The Minutes of the Red People
by DevilGhostflower
Summary: Modern-day assassin AU. "Death just happened, natural or not. The damage was done. The government allowing it? Here's your tinfoil hat. Resistance against the carefully carved system? Here's your free pass to a mental institution. Things like that didn't exist. Therefore, Levi didn't exist." Eventual Eren/Levi.
1. Prologue

**Warnings: **Very graphic descriptions of death and violence. This applies to the whole story.

* * *

No such thing as a legal assassin existed. The only difference between a hired killer and a serial killer was the ability to "slip past" the radar. No one batted an eye when people went missing if it was convenient, especially for the government. The journalists never caught on it, simply because the government could afford the very best of the trade.

Assassinations weren't what people mostly thought – 9mm uzis with silencers, clean shots to the back of a head in the middle of a crowd or the work of an ex-military sniper, a Cheytac .408 cal like an extension of their arms. That would warrant attention. That was an unnatural way to die, most of all – suspicious.

Death, in its essence, was natural. From getting in a car crash where you get identified from dental records to puncturing your lungs while falling down the stairs. People went missing every day, from running away from home to being sold in the sex industry. All kinds of information could pop up once someone was six feet under, the kind that explained everything. Crimes of passion, manslaughter, robbery.

Shoot someone in the chest, take their TV and the public won't question it.

Death just _happened._ The damage was done. Those who said the accidents were a set-up or saw a pattern in how there were no witnesses would be called conspiracy nuts. The government allowing it? Here's your tinfoil hat. Active protesting or resistance against the carefully carved system? Here's your free pass to a mental institution.

Things like that didn't exist.

Therefore, Levi didn't exist.

That was what he told himself while slitting the neck of a man.

37 years old, 185cm tall, 82kg, father of two. He'd read the file. Johan Stewart, banker, hobbies included fishing. Just someone who stood too close for comfort to someone else, the only difference was that one of the parties stood higher on the food chain.

He didn't care that Mr. Stewart was actually a high-rank smuggler who had returned from a drop-off. Not all his hits were "bad guys" like he appeared to be. They all had the same look on their faces when dying, they all knew fear. People were all the same and none of them deserved this.

Levi didn't have morality issues. He paid his taxes, gave his seat to older people on the train. He got paid to kill people and didn't ask questions. Job's a job in these harsh times.

And he was good at it.

In most cases they didn't even need to send a clean-up team, Levi knew they'd do a shit job by his standards so he ended up spending three hours in someone's garage, mopping blood up from concrete.

He preferred to clean up his own messes. And blindly counting on getting a clean shot or stab, everything going as planned, was simply idiotic narcissism at the cost of a failed hit, broken bones and maybe even life.

His number one rule was to never underestimate the strength of someone who had their life on the line. Always have a hunting knife strapped away somewhere convenient, because the gun could be kicked out of your hands, just like now.

Never count on your plan A; always have a dozen back-ups. Thanks to that he was now covered in blood, his legs and ribs ached and he suspected a sprained wrist. But he was alive; he was the killer, while the life of his victim slowly seeped out of the gaping wound, further staining his clothes.

The man's muscles were still twitching as the remains of the chemicals ushering him to fight from the brain still coursed through the rapidly emptying bloodstream.

It was too sticky and warm and Levi felt the cooling layer of sweat trickle down the side of his head.

'_Maybe I can still become a math teacher.'_

He promised himself to take a week off soon. But now it was time to get out the cleaning supplies and a bodybag.

* * *

I ran out of valium and felt like writing something violent. Then I remembered wanting to write a mystery AU bordering on sci-fi and violence that would rival SNK's own while everything is drowned in UST and homoerotic undertones (yeah, right, more like overtones, who am I fooling). So there you have it. I'll post the next chapter in a few days, but I'd like to know what you think of the idea so far. Too cliché? Already done? What side pairings you wouldn't mind seeing?


	2. E Jaeger further details undisclosed

**A/n:** This… is a really long chapter. Probably my favorite fic to write in my entire life (most are kind of like pulling my own teeth out). This'll probably hit 50+k eventually. I seriously need to stick to writing mystery/action with tauntingly slow romance development.

ChicFreakSistaFierce wanted a badass Eren… sorry. He does get kinda badass. Eventually.

Also… _what was I thinking when picking that title._

* * *

A plain folder was thrown on his coffee table.

"How rare of you to come in person."

"This is urgent, the deadline's in two days."

Levi glanced up to see the blond smile politely, almost apologetically. It was too early to see someone in a suit this ridiculously expensive.

"Your puns are awful."

"It wasn't intentional."

He resisted rolling his eyes and set the phone aside. Obviously Erwin was waiting for him to look at the file, which was odd. Five years into this and usually Levi was trusted enough to be left to his own devices.

Yet it was all clear after a glance at the contents of the file. "You've never given me anything this incomplete." There wasn't even a date of birth, not even a picture.

"I'm not going to risk killing the wrong person." He extended his hand to give the file back while picking his phone back up to continue scrolling through the news. He shook the folder a little to gain attention before the older man took it.

Erwin had already expected this. "You will do this. You're the only one trusted enough." Levi's eyes narrowed when hearing that. He appreciated the other man's bluntness towards him as others usually saw the sly, manipulative (albeit as gently as possible) side, but in cases like this he wished Erwin would just push him further and say something along the lines of 'we'll lose our jobs'.

"You know, just a week ago I was thinking about becoming a math teacher. Think you've got your foot in the right doors or should I just make the current one _retire_? There's this nice looking high-school just fifteen minutes from here."

Levi refused to look up at Erwin. He was probably the only man he'd lose to in a staring contest.

"Two days." The folder landed on his lap and Levi's fingers twitched the way they did when he felt like strangling something. That usually happened around Hanji, not Erwin.

"The fuck is up with this anyway? _Two days, _no picture, barely any information beside a mere description? Might as well save the paper and text me the address." He sneered, finally looking up at the other man again, slightly stunned to see just how serious Erwin's face had become.

Neither of them took their work lightly, but neither did they let it get to them and humor was the way to go, especially after knowing each other for five years. It gave them the opportunity for very peculiar inside jokes. But Erwin's current expression was the epitome of dead serious professionalism.

"You know I get my orders from someone. You were specifically requested for this, it's extremely important." Levi didn't reply, accepting his defeat in silence. It wouldn't be the first hit with this little information; he knew well enough that he could do it.

"Two days." Was all he heard before the door was shut quietly and Levi was left alone in his small studio apartment.

He glanced at the file again. Hopefully Eren Jaeger didn't harbor 80 kilos of pure muscle mass on his 170cm frame and a gun collection.

Levi left the file on the couch as he switched off the muted tv and got up for his morning run. If he weren't a morning person, he would've kicked Erwin in the face long ago. That man wasn't right in his head to come over at 7am, chatting casually whilst Levi was still in his pajamas. On a Sunday.

At least he had gotten his morning caffeine fix.

48 hours was a barbarically short time to get ready for a hit. After some grocery shopping he went to scout the location given in the file (after a few years you no longer feel awkward stalking someone you'll kill while your supper ingredients are rotting in the back seat). After three hours of loitering around, planning routes and staring at the blue-prints of the house that Hanji had generously emailed him, Levi gave up. No one was going to show. And his chicken fillet was in danger of cooking in the heat of the car, along with Levi himself, who had dressed down to a tank top and considered driving back with no pants on.

To be honest, the house looked deserted. All the curtains were drawn and not a shadow ventured past them.

If the upper echelon fucked up and the target was on the run already, he was so not getting blamed for it again. They yelled at Erwin and Erwin yelled at him. He yelled at Hanji. It was no simple 'slap on the wrist' matter.

He was forced to go to Austria to finish that one. Didn't even get to see the mountains.

So as much as he didn't want to, he'd have to simply run into this without any preparations. The hardest part was that the hit was to die in a certain way. Drug overdose. The second option was suicide. So first he had some good old chloroform work to do. It was a hassle, especially in a risky case like this.

He'd be overjoyed were it an ordinary file, just shooting people, cleaning up the blood and pushing furniture back in place got tedious after a while. It was harder to set up an accident, the ultimate test to one's skill of stealth.

At the risk of sounding inhuman, he even once said it was fun and an interesting process to Hanji. Afterwards Levi had to explain to her that he had his set of principles, rules he'd never break, his lifeboat of sanity, so he wouldn't lose it completely. She didn't believe him.

Levi sighed as he drove away. He only had about 30 hours to go over equipment, get everything in order. And he really wanted to try this new recipe and clean his flat.

At least Eren Jaeger's tragic overdose probably came with a big sum wired to his bank account.

He came home to a package sitting on the kitchen counter. After spending two years feeling slightly uncomfortable when someone had broken in, leaving no trace, Levi had changed locks and then sent Erwin a box of spare keys for Christmas to settle it.

Levi already had a pretty good idea of what was in the package, so he just tucked it away for now and went on with preparing food. He didn't particularly like cooking, but eating take-out was unhealthy. And if your own life often depended on your physical condition then being a bit of a health-freak wasn't bad at all.

27 hours left. 7 for sleep, 3 for checking and packing the equipment, 4 for other necessities, 1.5 to clean his apartment, 2 spent on the road and then breaking in. 11 for puzzling over the uncomfortable feeling in his gut and trying to make it go away.

Something just felt off about this. But it had happened before and it turned out that he had just eaten some bad tuna, so Levi chose to ignore it and cleared his mind before accidentally adding salt to the chicken for the third time.

It ended up too spicy to hide the saltiness and Levi slept for 6 hours and 34 minutes.

By the time the clock had finally crawled the long way to 7pm, Levi had just finished packing the equipment. He double checked the lock-picking gun and syringe filled with what looked like cheap heroin before wiping off his own fingerprints. The calculating, tranquil state of mind was already setting in, like it was his body's automatic response when preparing to kill someone.

Levi changed cars, just in case, since it was a suburban area and he could've raised some suspicion yesterday. He parked a block away from the house. Walking was less dubious than a car parked too close to where someone was about to drop dead.

Levi closed his eyes and his hand ran down the length of his neck, noting his heart rate to be roughly 75 bpm, fingers tapping against the carotid sinus; missing the pressure point would be a miserable fuck up and it had been a while since he'd last knocked someone out like that. Levi glanced at his wrist watch – 11:14pm. With that last check, he grabbed his bag and got out of the car.

4 minutes of brisk walking and he was there. The house looked just as deserted as yesterday. Well, if he wasn't in there, it wasn't Levi's fault so Erwin could go fuck himself. But if he _was _in there, the appearance only led Levi to think that the hit had a feeling that this might happen, which warranted extra caution.

The click of the lock-picking gun was louder than his footsteps. Once inside, Levi listened to the sounds of the house. He could hear a muffled voice coming from upstairs. Levi toed off his shoes quickly and started making his way through the first floor to see if no one else was home (the file guaranteed that the house would be empty, but Levi knew better than trust written words blindly).

The house was simple, bare, even. No photos or little knick-knacks anywhere. As if they had moved in recently. And it didn't look like Eren owned a gun collection, so far. The basement door was locked and he didn't hear any sounds coming from behind it. First floor was clear and Levi started making his way upstairs, not making a single creak.

Levi pulled out his trusty beretta 96 from the holster, all bullets unloaded, in case he couldn't sneak up to the target and had to play the robber role, as much as he despised it.

The voice had stopped, but he had managed to roughly locate it while climbing up the stairs. Second door on the right was halfway open and he could almost hear a heartbeat coming from there.

He glided along the wall before taking a peek inside after carefully putting his bag on the ground for later access.

Definitely not 80 kilos. 63 at the most. No older than 24. Irregular breathing, blocked nose. The man, who looked quite skinny, had his back toward the door and Levi seized the chance, making the first step inside the room.

The bright light of a phone screen came up and he froze on the spot.

He heard the tone ringing and something in his brain yelled to move while the man was distracted. But what if the person picked up? That would be the same as having a witness.

It went to voice-mail and Levi took a tentative step forwards. He fucking hated phones.

"M-Mikasa, why aren't you answering? Where are you? Everything's so messed up. Please pick up already." Eren ended the message before a sob broke out of his throat.

Levi's eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets. No way had Erwin hidden this from him on purpose. He was going to rip the man's head clean off his shoulders if that was the case.

He had never been in this situation before. Erwin knew about his lifeboat rules, respected them.

He had never been asked to kill a child.

Maybe this wasn't Eren Jaeger? A son? It didn't matter, he was not going to risk killing a mere brat. He took a careful step back towards the door. Just get out of there as quietly as he had gotten in.

Was it the swish of his clothes, the scent of his shampoo or fuck knows what else that grabbed his attention and the boy's body went rigid, he had no idea about the danger that had been lurking behind him all this time.

First thing the little pea-brain did was turn around, light of the phone illuminating his features before it shone right into Levi's face.

Levi swiftly lifted the beretta and spoke firmly. "Drop the phone. Don't scream or I'll shoot you. Name and age?" The click of the safety being removed seemed inappropriately loud.

The phone fell on the bed, screen up, tiny light illuminating the room faintly. Large eyes lingered on the gun before fixating on Levi's face for a second and then returning to the gun.

"…Eren Jaeger…f-fifteen." It was barely a whisper.

Fifteen fucking years old. Levi nearly cursed under his breath. Were it at least 16 and a half he could've made his principles more flexible. At that age you could already do some damage to justify the death.

But this kid looked like he wouldn't be able to harm anything even if he wanted to.

The silence stretched on and the screen of the phone switched off, leaving them in darkness except for the few street lights that managed to shine in through the curtains.

"I knew someone would come. Please do it quickly." His voice was shaking.

He either had to kill him now or take him along. Or at least knock him out to call Erwin and yell at him to clear his head. Ignoring his own very few principles would be the same as killing himself along with the boy. He'd quit, become insane. He wasn't ready to become a complete monster in his own eyes.

Yet if he just left now, someone else would kill Eren, of that he was certain. Levi was already involved; already an accomplice whether the death happened now or a few days later. He still had to live with this. No more hiding in blissful ignorance because kids dying brutal deaths hit too close to home.

He knew too little. The file said practically nothing.

Moving quicker than Eren could register even by the sounds of fabric rustling and the gun being put back into the holster, Levi had grabbed his arm, spun him around and his wrists were held in a tight grip. Even if it was a fifteen year old brat, he didn't feel safe holding someone at gunpoint with an empty gun.

"Move."

The bathroom was right across this room and Levi prayed for his photographic memory of the blue-prints not to fail him now. He bent down for a split second to grab the bag before switching the light on in the room and pushing the boy in roughly.

The bathroom had no windows; no one would see the light.

The fluorescent light hurt his eyes, but Levi kept them wide open.

"Sit." He gestured towards the toilet seat. "And don't even think about shitting your pants." Honestly, the kid looked so pitiful that Levi didn't feel the need to threaten him with a gun again. He was more concerned about the brat fainting, dying of a heart attack and soiling himself right now.

And about the uncomfortable feeling of having just made a grave mistake.

Eren looked like a scrawny, lanky 14 year old at best if it weren't for his height. That face knew no violence. He was genuinely frightened, emerald eyes large as saucers, puffy and red. There was snot dribbling down from his nose and if it weren't for the situation, Levi would've made him blow his nose. He was glad he had gloves on as he remembered touching those snotty hands.

"Tell me how you knew someone was coming." He demanded while fishing his phone out of the bag, eyes never leaving Eren while he tried to find it.

The boy opened his mouth and closed it, repeating the process a few times before a barely audible squeak left his lips.

"My father did something. I don't know what. He fled." He swallowed thickly. "My mother disappeared shortly after."

"And who do you think I am?"

Seeing as Levi carried on the conversation, Eren relaxed slightly, voice flowing better once his throat wasn't clamping down.

"I… I don't know. Someone from a gang? The mafia? My father was in with the wrong people."

Levi almost laughed. Honestly, a gang? Sure, he didn't look his age, but did he really look like a 19 year old or something?

"I understand the situation with your father. But why would anyone want you killed?" He asked as innocently as possible. Levi was in deep shit as it was, actually talking to his hit, so the death of Eren Jaeger was pretty much definite by now. He chose work over personal sanity and hoped it wouldn't affect anything.

"I'm an ordinary teenager. I have two friends and no social life." Levi bit his tongue not to add _'and you'll die a virgin'_ bitterly.

He averted his eyes for a second to glance at the phone. 12:01pm. Erwin was first on his speed dial and Levi had didn't see any other choice than to come clean. His fingers were already pressing the number down when Eren made a run for it.

Levi's body moved on auto-pilot, forgetting the 'no bruises' rule as he kicked Eren in the face with all his force, pain shooting through his foot as it collided with the boy's jaw.

Eren was knocked back, blood spilling from his split lip into the sink against which he was leaning now. Levi already felt his previous decision to come to the bathroom as one based on emotions, and, predictably, it was turning out to be a huge mistake growing out of a weakness.

Eren glanced at Levi apologetically before parting his lips as globs of saliva mixed with copious amounts of blood dribbled down his chin before falling towards the stark white of the sink in grotesque, distorted droplets.

Something clanked against it. Once. Twice.

Fuck. Levi ran a hand through his hair in frustration, facial expression speaking volumes of disgust and annoyance. Aside of nearly splitting his face in a half, he had successfully rid the boy of two teeth.

A million thoughts were running through his mind. How to modify the set-up to fit this now? Yeah, "don't kill kids, it'll fuck you up". Then get yourself in a mess so big you have to kill them anyway and before that, make them suffer a bit. Great, Levi. Why not adopt him.

Levi grit his teeth so hard he swore he saw Eren flinch at the sound of it.

"Listen, you shitstain, I'm not going to kill you. But somebody else definitely will. Will you stay here and wait for them or come along with me?"

He'll have to bring the brat home. Or kill him on the way. Or in the morning. Think of something. Call Erwin. Better not. Call Hanji. Maybe. Or maybe he could figure this out on his own.

"I'll come along." The words were surprisingly pronounced, considering how badly he bled from his lip and the loss of two teeth. He was holding up remarkably well. The question _'why are you doing this'_ was written all over Eren's face, but Levi refused to indulge him. He might get sick of himself and throw up all over the place.

"Rinse your mouth."

He did as he was told, but the bleeding appeared to have almost stopped and he stared at Levi lamely as the older man cleaned up any specks of blood from the floor.

"Take a shit or something. I'm not having you finally do it out of fear in my car."

Eren didn't know whether that was a failed attempt at humor or if the man was serious, so he just fidgeted nervously. "I won't." He mumbled under his breath.

Well, he'd kill him either way. Levi considered tying Eren's arms, but remembered about the walk back to his car. Now that would look suspicious to the neighbors.

"Go pack a bag with clothes and any small necessities. Give your phone to me right away. Don't switch on the light." Levi instructed, pulling his beretta out along with a flashlight. As soon as they were out of the bathroom, he flicked the light off and shone the flashlight in the boy's face.

"I really don't want to kill you, but that choice is in your own hands. If you try to run, I will be forced to kill you. If you behave and think rationally, you'll understand that right now with me is the safest you can be." Until they got back at his place and he slipped the boy some benzodiazepine derivative, squeezed any information out of him, then off to a ditch they went and Eren would be found beat up _and _OD'd. He knew plenty of places where that wouldn't look too out of place.

Eren simply nodded, hesitating before stepping forwards. "I'm sorry… about trying to run." He murmured before hastily handing over his phone once they had made the short distance to his room. Levi would almost feel bad for him if he weren't so busy mentally kicking the shit out of himself for not knocking the boy unconscious.

Levi watched him try to discern pieces of clothing in the dim light and stuff them into a ratty looking messenger bag along with very few other belongings.

That served it's purpose too. He'd look like a typical runaway. If needed, he could even keep the boy around for a day or two, drug him up… no, Levi wasn't sure he could do that. First ne needed to interrogate him properly.

He could come back later and make the house look appropriate. Plant some drugs and other tiny little pieces of evidence.

He motioned with the flashlight for the boy to go downstairs once he was finished packing.

The fact his gun didn't have a silencer or even bullets seriously unnerved him. He couldn't exactly walk outside with it in plain sight. And risking Eren breaking out in a run wouldn't be any better, even if Levi would catch him within seconds. He placed it back in the holster once they were at the door.

He slipped his shoes on quickly before straightening up and holding his hand out to the boy. "Hold my hand. It's roughly a 4 minute walk to my car and I can't risk you running."

"W-what!? I won't run…" Embarrassment was clearly audible in his voice.

"It's your own fault, deal with it." Levi spat back, gripping the boy's hand, before opening the door and slipping out of it. He didn't lock it. If all went as planned, he'd be back soon enough and would close it if needed.

Levi pulled the boy along, almost feeling how wobbly Eren's knees were. He was immensely glad for the gloves since he could hear the slippery sound they made against the boy's sweaty palms.

The walk back seemed so much longer now. They spent it in awkward silence.

He felt relief once they both were inside the confines of the car. He had to push Eren roughly ahead of him before getting in himself and locking the doors straight away. No way did he trust this snotty brat.

The bag of tools was placed carefully on the backseat. Finally the Volvo S60 roared to life and Levi sped out of there. The sooner they got back to his flat, the better.

"Put your seatbelt on." He said after glancing at Eren through the corner of his eye. Levi was teetering on the brink of the speed limit, well over at times, flying through the empty streets. Neither of them spoke a single word.

After a short while Eren was starting to feel sick as the reality of his dire situation sunk in. The speed at which Levi was going wasn't helping. He always got a bit car-sick.

"I'mgoing to—" a disgusting gurgling sound reached Levi's ears, "—throwup" The boy managed to finish his sentence before slapping a hand over his mouth, Levi screeched to a halt, thankful for the yellow-to-red traffic light. In fear of vomit, a dirty car and even a bigger, physically, mess on his hands; he managed to open the passenger side car door and unbuckle Eren's seatbelt lightning fast, leaning over the boy who kept making disgusting sounds.

Levi grabbed Eren's shirt collar to push his upper body out of the door right in time. Thankfully the boy was the only one who saw his supper for the second time, Levi just heard it.

"Ten seconds." Levi grunted, his position bordering on way too uncomfortable as he still tried to somewhat hold Eren and the steering wheel simultaneously. "Five. Finish up, close the door."

He could hear Eren dry-heave heavily as the light turned to green and Levi pulled the boy back before flooring the gas. Thankfully the brat actually closed the door.

"I swear, if you get vomit on anything…" Well, maybe his moral breakdown wouldn't be as grandiose after the job was done. He shuddered upon seeing the boy wipe his mouth against the sleeve of his jacket. Levi focused on the fact that traces of vomit will look great to the coroner. Picture perfect teenage junkie runaway.

They finally arrived and Levi was thankful for the lack of security cameras in his apartment building. If there would be any, he was sure that Erwin would have a live feed of those on his phone.

Up to the sixth floor and Eren was starting lean against him too heavily. Roughly 20 meters to the door of apartment number 604. and Levi prayed that no one would be there waiting for an early report on the night's job. For the first time in his life he had brought work home.

"If anyone's there, you're a hooker I picked up." Levi whispered against Eren's ear while fiddling with his keys. At least that made the boy straighten up and Levi was no longer in such close proximity with Eren's vomit-breath.

Thankfully his apartment was empty and they were saved from a very painful test of acting skills. Levi let go of Eren's waist and the boy slumped down in the hallway, barely making a few steps.

After locking the door, Levi just stared at the miserable pile of snot, vomit remains and some blood on his perfectly polished wooden floor.

He almost felt bad.

Scratch that, he felt bad. Mostly for himself and the mess that was growing considerably with each passing second, but also for Eren. A little voice nagged in the back of his head that he had to find out everything about him.

"Shoes off, dirty clothes off. The ones in your room didn't look very clean, I'll lend you a shirt and a pair of pants." Was his conscience seriously waking up from its long slumber _now_ of all times?

What a coincidence. Levi snorted to himself. The man dressed down to his pants and tank top before stalking off to the kitchen to get the seemingly catatonic boy a glass of water.

Splashing cold water on his face in the solitude of his kitchenette also did Levi some good. By the time he returned Eren had somehow gotten his sneakers and jacket off, unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, made unsuccessful attempts to pull his t-shirt off and sprawled on the floor instead.

Well, if anyone came in, the hooker act would be halfway there.

"Hey, shitstain." Levi didn't feel one bit sorry as his foot connected with the boy's ribs, which elicited a groan from the lifeless looking body. "Get up. Drink the whole glass." The vomiting had dehydrated him and it showed.

Eren got up in a sitting position unsteadily and grabbed the glass of water, downing it greedily. Droplets escaped the corners of his lips and travelled down his neck.

That was when Levi noticed. He remembered blood pouring down Eren's face generously when he had kicked him. He had definitely busted the boy's lip open. Badly.

There wasn't even a scratch in sight. The skin looked flawless.

Levi was sure he was hallucinating. Had he imagined the whole face kicking fiasco, one of the main reasons why he had dragged Eren here? Had the boy put make-up on? He decided to dwell on that later and deal with the situation at hand.

"Get up." He ordered before returning to the kitchenette, believing the boy would follow him, which he did, quite obediently.

"The bathroom is on the left, take a shower, you're stinking the whole place up. I'll bring you a towel and clean clothes. Leave the dirty clothes on the floor, not the laundry basket. Don't even think about locking the door."

Eren's expression conveyed that he really had a thing or two to say about being ordered around like this, but Levi simply raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, as if daring the brat to open his mouth and say a single thing.

Eren's lips formed a thin line before he gave a curt nod.

Levi's expression softened slightly as the other turned in the direction of the bathroom.

"Hey…"

Eren looked over his shoulder, expecting another insult, but his face soon mirrored the same softening and he looked down at his feet. There was a hole in his sock, toe peeking out slightly. The boy bent his foot to hide it, only drawing Levi's attention towards it in the process.

"Do you want tea, coffee or hot chocolate?"

Eren froze at the question for a second before resuming his fidgeting.

"…Hot chocolate." He mumbled before disappearing in the bathroom so quickly that Levi assumed he had suddenly inhaled a whiff of his own body odor.

Hot chocolate was the best choice. It would mask the bitter taste of 25mg of diazepam that would put the boy to sleep.

Levi leaned heavily against the kitchen counter, letting out a tortured sigh that had been building up ever since he looked Eren Jaeger in the face. The sound of the shower booming to life, with quite the miserable sixth floor water pressure, filled his ears and Levi suddenly realized that this was the first time in four years he actually had someone over and using his shower other than Hanji or Erwin (and that happened three times a year at best).

He really needed to punch something. Maybe Eren, if his lip magically healed, then maybe so would his ribs.

Levi had fucked up royally. His limbs slowly filled with lead as he fetched clean clothes for Eren, looking for something that would fit the boy better. Something from his skinny alley rat times. He ended up getting him a plain, white button-down and gray jeans full of holes. After grabbing a fresh towel he made his way towards the bathroom.

Thankful for Eren having enough sense to draw the shower curtains, Levi put the clean clothes on the washing machine neatly, followed by a quick detour to the medicine cabinet before making his exit as quiet as the entrance.

He crushed exactly 25mg with a spoon after boiling the water. 3 teaspoons of chocolate powder, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/3 warm milk, 2 teaspoons of sugar and a half of vanilla sugar, stir, add hot water. Let it cool. Add crushed diazepam. Stir.

The recipe for killing fifteen year old brats that looked like kicked puppies who are about to take a giant shit in your shoe.

Levi took a tentative sip. He would never drink hot chocolate again in his entire life. Or make it. The shower had stopped about a half a minute ago and the man made himself the strongest, largest mug of coffee he could find in hopes of preparing himself for one of the most difficult jobs and blows to his remaining sanity.

At least the kid would have the best hot chocolate on earth before becoming blissfully high, then unconscious. And then beat to a bloody pulp, injected with heroin, redressed in dirty clothes, rolled around in dirt and shit and dumped in an alley with no pulse.

It would all look even more convincing on the coroner's report if there would be traces of sexual assault. Levi wrinkled his nose in disgust, reminding himself to double check for a pulse before he left the body.

"Do I still smell!?" Came a shriek from Eren who had just gotten out of the shower and obviously witnessed Levi's facial expression of disgust.

A small chuckle escaped the stoic man before he stifled it. "No, you don't. My coffee's too strong. Do the clothes fit?" He beckoned the boy to sit down at the kitchenette counter, right opposite of himself. Why was he being so nice to the brat? He hoped that "you'll see Levi become nice to others on your dying day" wouldn't become a running gag if he ever told Hanji about this.

"The pants are a bit too big." Eren noted sheepishly, pointing down at his hips which were narrower than Levi's. "And everything's a bit…" He glanced at his arms before rolling the sleeves up and looking back at the older man. "…Too short."

Levi's eyebrow twitched before he pushed the cup of chocolate towards Eren, who had bit his lower lip in an attempt hide an amused smile.

"Drink it very slowly or your stomach might get upset. And try to relax, you're safe now."

He needed time to interrogate him after all. Levi glanced at his watch. 01.30am. By 4 o'clock his hit will be done. By 5 he will finally get a shower.

* * *

**A/n:** Ahahahhh, I'm so sorry for the cliffhanger. It hit over 5.5k words, I didn't originally plan to stop there.

WILL EREN DIE? If so, you can expect him haunting the shit out of Levi and then top it off with angry ghost sex.

Will Levi become a math teacher? Or maybe I'll develop an actual sense of humor. (I'm so sorry, really.)


	3. Levi, what have you done

**A/n: **I'm on a roooolll. This is a more relaxed chapter, focusing on dialogue. I'll try to update soon again, for _shit is getting real_ in the next one. Let me know what you think! And my apologies for any mistakes, writing everything on autopilot while being awake for 35+ hours does awful things.

* * *

They spent a while sitting in silence, remarkably comfortable, considering that Levi was drugging the boy right now while Eren occupied his mind with how he had no underwear on (it was dirty, was he supposed to put it back on or something?) to distract himself. He either stared into his beverage or let his eyes roam around the apartment, never really settling on the older man.

Levi watched the boy out of his peripheral vision carefully while pretending to be engrossed in the contents of his phone, taking sips of coffee every now and then. Once every possible trajectory from which he could attack if Eren realized Levi's true intentions and tried to make a run for it was mapped, he let his posture relax slightly.

Surprisingly, Eren was the first to break the silence, with the question that burned holes in both of their brain cells.

"Why didn't you kill me?"

Levi looked at him pointedly, noting that his pupils were beginning to dilate. He didn't answer right away.

"You do this for a living, right? How does that even… work."

Only took him this long to arrive at that conclusion?

"I don't kill snotty kids, gets my conscience dirty." Levi answered before the boy could start speculating out loud, which he was undoubtedly doing in his mind already.

"And your circumstances seem somewhat peculiar." He added, as an afterthought, letting it hang heavily in the air as an argument he himself should consider.

Eren nodded slowly, putting his mug back down on the counter. He had already downed close to a half of it and was obviously getting a bit woozy, judging from how relaxed he had become, muscles soon to become soft as clay.

"Eren, do you remember me hitting you? How were you hurt exactly?" Levi kept his voice and words calm and level, as hard as it was, not letting it revert back to his usual tone that could sound insulting even if he discussed the weather.

"Of course I remember, you kicked me in the face. You split my lip and I lost two teeth." Eren said, a pained look appearing on his face a few seconds after he finished, as if he couldn't multitask talking and keeping up with facial expressions.

Levi exhaled a sigh of relief. He wasn't hallucinating after all, and the pain still shooting through his right foot from the kick every now and then wasn't just something conjured up by his delirious brain.

"But there are no signs of that kind of damage being done to you."

The boy looked uncomfortable and took another sip from the mug of chocolate, face blooming into a genuine smile as the sweet liquid made its way down his throat. "This is really good, by the way. Thank you."

"I know. You're drinking it too fast. Remember what I told you about your stomach."

"You know…" He swished the liquid around, almost spilling it with clumsy, uncoordinated movements. Levi hoped he wouldn't try getting up. "It's okay that you put something in my drink."

Levi didn't react, waiting for the boy to continue.

"I saw you take a pill bottle from the bathroom."

"Just something to calm your nerves. You've been put through a lot today, wouldn't be good for shock to set in."

Another pause before Eren laughed softly, cheeks tinged a light pink. "It's okay."

"It's like you said. I'm safer here than anywhere else at the moment."

Levi's gut twisted uncomfortably and they fell into silence once again. What the hell was wrong with this kid, doped up or not? It was too early for Stockholm syndrome.

"Does your mouth hurt? There's no bruising or swelling."

His face fell again and Eren shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing hurts." He admitted unwillingly.

"Open your mouth." If his assumption was right, two molars on the left side of his maxilla should be missing, hard to miss.

After a second of hesitation Eren opened his mouth.

"Wider. And tilt your head back…" Levi instructed while leaning towards the boy, eyebrows drawn together in concentration.

Could something really triumph over all the other oddities tonight? His left hand gripped Eren's jaw and tilted it back further so he could see more, pulling the boy closer. At least he probably didn't notice that Levi had to sit on his knees on the bar stool to actually have a plausible angle.

Eren made a pained, incoherent sound between a moan and a groan while trying to twist away.

"Stop moving." Levi ordered sternly, face so close his hair tickled the boy's skin.

All of his molars were in place. Left and right side. The maxilla and the mandible. Right now he didn't even give to shits about the germs in Eren's mouth as his face was nearly in it. Although he really should've brushed his teeth. There should've been at least one spare toothbrush in his bathroom, unopened.

"Did you have a dental anomaly?" Levi suddenly let go of him and sat back in his place, ignoring the groan of pain from Eren whose jaw made a cracking sound as if it set back into place after the rough treatment.

"No. That doesn't explain the split lip." Levi said, staring into the nearly black depths of his coffee, slowly accepting the only possible explanation.

"They grew back."

A pregnant pause stretched out between them until Levi lifted his eyes to look at Eren who looked increasingly hesitant as seconds rushed by.

"I guess."

"Care to explain?"

Eren shrugged again. He obviously didn't want to talk about this and that only made Levi's suspicions grow. There was more to this than what seemed at first.

"What's your name?" Followed by another sip. Was he seriously that gullible, downing something that was obviously spiced, coming from the hands of someone who was hired to kill him?

The mind of Eren Jaeger seemed to be an amazingly simple, vast place of emptiness.

"Why are you so unwilling to talk about why you sprouted two new molars in your mouth?" And that was fucking _freaky_, Levi had to admit. And he'd seen a lot of shit in his lifetime. "You know more than you're telling me."

Eren wasn't far away from pouting when his question was ignored.

"Because I'm not sure of my own memories. What's your name?"

Were they repressed? He was sure Hanji had tried her hand at hypnosis…

"Rivaille." He finally answered, not paying much mind to their conversation anymore.

"That's a weird name."

It was Levi's turn to shrug. One of his fake passports had that last name. Most people didn't bat an eye, French passport – French last name.

"When did your father disappear?"

"Two weeks ago."

"Mother?"

"A week and a half ago." It was obviously painful for him to talk about it so Levi simply nodded. So he probably had spent more than a week on his own or with the person he had been trying to reach on the phone when Levi popped up.

The boy looked the part. Now that they were in a properly lit space Levi could see the circles under his eyes and he definitely looked like he had lost weight in a short amount of time.

Silence stretched between them while Eren stared at him, expression slowly becoming grimmer.

"Are you…" He trailed off, both of them aware of where that train of thought was going. The boy was probably so far gone that the memories became a blur seconds after experiencing something. His pupils were blown.

_Was he going to finish the job?_

Levi didn't know. Surprisingly, that wasn't even a half-truth. He didn't answer.

"What was your father's occupation?"

"Uhh…." Eren squinted, as if that would help him pronounce words. Levi didn't have much time left to decide what to do based on the information he'd get. He had wasted too much time on useless chit-chat.

"Genetics… engineer, I think?"

"Who's Mikasa?"

Eren's face remained expressionless for a few seconds before his brain chewed on the information. The fact he just drank the last of the benzo-chocolate didn't help.

"I don't want to endanger anyone else." He finally replied.

How rich.

Levi stood up, collecting the empty mug to pour some hot water in it and rinsed. He'd do a proper job later. Levi sat back down and unlocked his phone with a sweep of his thumb.

02.15am.

He hesitated, glancing up at Eren who was staring at the ceiling in hazy bliss. Levi wouldn't mind dying like this himself. Living might even be more painful for this kid.

Levi had never asked questions. For the first time in five years he wanted to know why.

He was going to get in so much shit. Levi pocketed the phone and got up again, walking over to the boy's seat.

"Stand up." Eren blinked at him slowly after he finished scrutinizing his ceiling. "Yeah, I know I need a new lampshade."

The brunet stared at him blankly, Levi's last comment had obviously only served to confuse him further.

"Stand up."

"I… I don't think I… can." Eren managed while his hands pushed uselessly against the counter. Levi took a hold of his wrists and tugged gently. It was enough for the boy to fall against him.

He was probably asleep before his forehead pressed against Levi's shoulder, arms limply held up by the older man.

Levi was used to lifting the dead weight of other people. Approximately 58kg, he concluded after hooking his arm under Eren's knees and lifting him up. His head now lolled back, mouth slightly ajar. After a short walk, during which Levi started feeling his own exhaustion sinking in, he dumped the boy on his bed, making the mattress bounce. Not a muscle twitched in Eren's body.

He sat down at the foot of the bed. It was time to set things in motion.

"_Be here at 6am._

_-Levi"_

His suspicion of her being awake was confirmed as the phone chimed nearly seconds after he had sent the message.

_ "Only if you cook breakfast._

_-Hanji"_

"_I have something better. Take your most diverse toolkit._

_ -Levi"_

At least he wouldn't be on his own. He switched the sound off before Hanji started pestering him. This was wasn't a matter he wanted to discuss through unsecure connections.

Most of the time he could swear that Hanji Zoe was the bane of his existence, but now she might be the one to later convince Erwin not to behead him.

He started typing a new message before deleting it.

Should he lie? The truth, or a version of it, would eventually pop up anyway. He couldn't hide Eren under his bed for very long and this whole ordeal was putting his own life at risk. And Levi didn't feel quite like fleeing the country just yet.

"_Eren Jaeger is on the run. Will pursue. Requesting extension._

_-Levi"_

The best way to present a lie was by wrapping it up in shreds of truth. Eren Jaeger was on the run, just not from him.

Levi hesitated before sending the message. He really hoped that the next time Erwin would appear on his doorstep the older man would suddenly realize how fond of Levi he had grown.

The mess he was getting into now could create a domino effect and if the fact that his target was now snoring peacefully in his bed came to light, Erwin might be the first to fall. Chain of command and responsibility went hand in hand.

He knew Erwin would reply only after 6.30am so there was no point in stressing over what his answer would imply. It was possible, considering the circumstances of the case and how urgent, therefore high-profile it was, that someone could've followed him to Eren's house in case he fucked up.

Eren Jaeger, with Levi's name in tow, might've made his way on a different hitman's list by now.

To be fair, if he was in their shoes, he would like to sweep a mutant boy who could sprout new teeth in a few hours under the rug too, along with anyone who knew of the ordeal.

But if no one knew, he could still fix everything. Depending on what Hanji's conclusions were, he might dispose of the boy next morning, in a different city, match it up with bus routes, same manner as planned. As long as Levi lived up to his lies, Erwin would never have to know. Even if that meant becoming Hanji's personal slave (honestly, if he ended up killing the kid, Levi might need some supervision, so she might as well move in).

His life would return to normal. He wouldn't ask a single question.

After stuffing his phone in his pocket, Levi shuffled closer to Eren. Still breathing. Even if they could still get a fair amount of information out of an autopsy, Levi wasn't going to sacrifice his coffee table to Hanji's scientific shenanigans. And he still needed the boy to answer some questions.

Eren seemed to be doing fine though, he might be running a bit of a fever, but he had a healthy resting heart rate of 45 bpm. Levi pulled his fingers back from the boy's throat.

He considered tying him to the bed but dismissed the idea quickly. There was no need to make this seem wrong on even more levels than it already did. He doubted that Eren would be capable of running within the next six hours.

He had two and a half hours to shower, snoop through Eren's bag and manage at least a power nap before Hanji arrived.

Levi hadn't felt this drained in a long time. He had long forgotten how troubling interacting with other people was.

'_Although this brat has a category of his own.' _The man thought grimly while fetching a pair of flannel pajama pants from the dresser.

Upon stepping in the bathroom his face scrunched up instantly. A very dirty shirt, jeans and a pair of black boxers laid in a messy pile on the floor. He hadn't even folded them, was it really that hard?

Levi had to go back, grab a pair of latex gloves and a garbage bag before the pile of clothes, that he suspected had been worn for a week straight, vaporized and rendered his bathroom in need of quarantine.

Once the bag was tied shut he put it behind the laundry basket. The gloves, mostly not to leave fingerprints, went in the trash bin and a second later Levi finally let every thought in his mind get washed away by hot water.

He had never wanted to stay in the shower for the rest of his life so badly. It took immense willpower to turn the dial towards the blue strip after washing himself. Levi inhaled sharply as nearly ice cold water rained down upon him.

He managed about half a minute before getting out, almost tripping over the shower curtain on his rush towards the comfort of a fluffy towel, but considerably more awake.

Levi had forgotten to give Eren a towel. So it was safe to assume that he had used one of those in his bathroom. He looked for the least wrinkled one that didn't have any hair on it while dripping water on the tiles. After finding it Levi swore that if he lived through this, he'd write a book on how "Eren Jaeger could make you miserable just by existing".

After cautiously drying off he wrapped an elastic band around the arch of his foot and ankle, probably sprained, before slipping into those green, worn-out, godly comfortable pajama pants.

The next test of self control was presented to him right after he sauntered out of the bathroom. The tiny couch looked like a king sized featherbed with downy pillows right about now. Levi shook off the mirage by remembering how springs dug into his back.

He had slept there only once, while an intoxicated Hanji and Mike had occupied his bed, doing god knows what (he threw the sheets out). Levi had woken up feeling like his backbone had been broken in several different places.

Now was not the time for sleep. It was time for latex gloves and Eren's bag.

Levi felt his frustration rise as he saw the mess he had yet to clean up in the hallway, some of Eren's clothes still scattered around the place.

The contents of the bag were the following: Two shirts, a pair of pants and two pairs of underwear and Levi doubted the freshness of them all.

Phone charger, wallet with some change in it along with a coupon for frozen yogurt, passport, candy wrappers, torn out pages of what looked like measly attempts at history and English notes, more change randomly thrown in the bag and half a pack of gum.

Levi took the passport, wallet and charger and put everything else back the way it was before grabbing Eren's phone from his own bag.

Luckily the phone was still holding on with the battery bar dangerously low and red. After plugging it in he discovered that Eren didn't bother with any kind of passcodes.

He had one missed call from Mikasa and a text from Armin that read _'Please tell me you're okay, everyone's worried!'_ which Levi deleted afterwards. Next thing he did was turn off all connections so the device would appear to be switched off.

The phone was new and there was barely anything on it. A few pictures of him and a blond boy and a dark haired girl, both probably around the same age. He assumed the girl to be Mikasa and speculated the boy to be Armin.

A picture of Eren pulling a goofy face in which he looked much healthier than he did now. Not much else.

The contact list wasn't very long and he only recognized the names of Eren's two friends. That's what he had said himself – two friends and no social life.

He didn't have any applications for social media except twitter.

A bunch of games though, about 20 of them.

Feeling disappointed Levi left the device on the floor. He pulled off the latex gloves before wincing at his sweaty hands and washing them.

He eyed the couch and it no longer looked inviting. He set his alarm to 5.30am, which left him an hour and a half of sleep. First he had to clean the mess in the kitchen and hallway though, else Hanji would sense that something was not right and he had yet to decide just how to break the news to her.

Eren had spread himself across the bed in an amazing way that left absolutely no space. Levi should've seen that coming when opening the door of his bedroom.

More work. More of Eren Jaeger making his life worse by doing nothing.

First he had to roll him on the far right of the bed before lifting the boy's upper body in an awkward position to get the blanket out of underneath him.

After crawling under the retrieved blanket and finally resting his head against the pillow, Levi couldn't contain an exhausted groan. He felt like sleeping for 20 hours straight. Maybe someday, after all of this was over.

Hopefully he wouldn't wake up with Eren up in his face.

Levi then spent half an hour mapping bus routes and time tables to match with the time they had left Eren's house. How far would he have walked, what turns he'd take. Where he'd get beat up. If it came to that, Eren Jaeger would be found dead tomorrow at 11.30pm, 195km away from where he was currently sleeping.

All he managed to do before passing out was to switch the sound back on for his phone.

10 seconds later he was sound asleep.

It was black and dreamless and felt like he hadn't even closed his eyes when Levi was rudely awoken by the doorbell. Less than 30 minutes was way too little and he felt like he needed more than just coffee to continue on with this ridiculous lifestyle.

The previous events flooded back to him instantly and Levi jumped out of his bed in record speed, grabbing his phone in the process before it hit the ground and paid no mind to Eren's arm sliding off his chest.

He had 7 new messages from Hanji. It was 5.47am and apparently he had hit the snooze button in his sleep.

Levi opened the door to see someone who was too chipper to be up this early. Well, she didn't have to go through almost killing and then not killing and then almost killing someone again just not to kill them in the end yet.

"Wow, Levi, you look like a hot mess." She said after the man had let her in and Levi's only response was an exasperated groan getting caught somewhere in the back of his throat.

He did indeed look like a hot mess, pajama pants about to slide past his hips, generous amount of underwear showing while his uncombed hair was sticking up weirdly, everything topped off by circles under his eyes that spoke of college students that didn't know when to end the party.

"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Hanji snorted before making her way through the familiar flat. She put her bag on the couch and it took up nearly half of it.

"Eggs, toast and a gallon of coffee."

"Where?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically, having already made the connection between Levi's appearance and the lack of any mouth-watering scents wafting through the air.

"In the fridge, get to it." Levi said from his resumed spot on the kitchenette bar stool.

Normally Hanji wouldn't, but seeing her favorite cold blooded killer look this pathetic played with her feelings and she made her way to the fridge.

"Don't forget to wash your hands." A muffled grumble from behind her.

"Just because you have excessive hygiene it doesn't mean that others have none."

Levi chose not to indulge Miss Comeback any further, refusing to move an inch before fresh coffee would be presented before him. Luckily for him Hanji could read his body language well enough and not even ten minutes passed, during which he somehow managed to stay awake, before a hot cup was placed on the table.

"So, mind telling me why I'm here?" Hanji asked while cracking an egg into the pan. How could she move so fast?

Levi didn't feel like scaring her shitless with the fact he had dragged work home and it currently was asleep in his bed. She did have a screw or two loose up there, but this time he had trumped her. Levi took a large mouthful of the coffee, scalding his tongue in the process, before he even started thinking of how to put this. He had never been good at beating around the bush.

"Say, purely hypothetically speaking, would it be possible for a genetically modified life form to regenerate in a way similar to, hmm, a lizard growing its tail back?"

Levi winced at his own wording; his already lacking eloquence was failing him more than usual.

Hanji roared with laughter. "Did you have a sci-fi film marathon without me? That's just mean, even for you." While her voice was amused, the woman pinned him to the spot with the look in her eyes.

"I witnessed it."

"If this is some kind of a prank then…" She trailed off and he noticed that Hanji was looking past him, rather than at him.

"Whoa, did you finally get laid?"

Levi's head snapped in the direction she was looking in so fast he heard his vertebrae give a pitiful crack. An extremely wobbly, bed-headed Eren had just appeared within the kitchenette. The effects of the drug hadn't worn off completely, judging by his unstable walk and half-lidded eyes.

If Levi looked like a mess then Eren looked a million times worse. It was painfully obvious that he had no underwear on and the owner of those jeans felt like screaming at the top of his lungs at the brat. And his shirt was buttoned wrong.

"He does look… kind of young, though." That woman really liked to fill the awkward silences.

The boy looked like he only now had noticed the new addition to Levi's apartment and all the little shit did was stand there and lift his hand to give the most graceless little wave accompanied by a husky "'Morning."

"I… where…" Eren was obviously confused by the unfamiliar surroundings, eyes searching for something he could actually recall in his memory. They settled on Levi. "I need to take a leak."

Without saying a single word, Levi pointed to the bathroom door all while trying to light the boy on fire with his stare. It only served to make him look even more uncomfortable.

Did Eren even remember how he got here? He stumbled towards the bathroom like a zombie, leaving Levi and Hanji looking at each other, to see who would be the first to open their mouths as soon as the bathroom door shut.

_Click._

"I didn't know you were into-"

"Shut the fuck up." Levi sounded so dead serious that Hanji looked taken aback.

"That's Eren Jaeger."

At first she looked confused but then her expression grew mortified, the name obviously rang a bell.

"Levi…" She couldn't believe it. Yet it made all the pieces fit. "What have you done."


	4. The Eotena Project

**A/n: **I hope you like it, please let me know what you think and if there are any mistakes! And thank you all for the reviews, they make my day.

_*polymetric falcighol derivation –_ to put it simply – a fractal is used as a password.

* * *

"_Levi…" She couldn't believe it. Yet it made all the pieces fit. "What have you done."_

"He's fifteen. And grew back two molars I kicked out." Levi tried explaining as calmly as possible, hoping she'd be okay with the short version of what had happened.

"So you brought him home?" Hanji groaned, lifting up her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Wait, what?" She looked at Levi wide–eyed. He wouldn't joke around in a situation like this, right?

"I told you I witnessed it. Ask him yourself, that's what I needed you for – to get me every scrap of information there is about him." He spoke quickly and in a hushed voice. It was better to get this over without her questioning him. "And before you ask, Erwin doesn't know, I told him Eren was on the run and requested extension."

Hanji didn't say comment on it, thankfully. She trusted Levi to sort his own messes out, even if this was a grand one.

"So you still plan on killing him?"

"That depends."

Hanji nodded, letting silence settle between them.

The eggs were burnt to a crisp and Hanji dumped them in the garbage before Eren re–appeared from the bathroom, looking much more alert and with his shirt now buttoned up properly.

"I borrowed one of the packaged toothbrushes, I hope you don't mind." He said, hesitantly sitting down at the counter.

"It's fine. You should still be sleepy, aren't you going to go back to bed?"

Levi tried not to pay any mind to how preposterously casual all of this sounded when there was nothing ordinary about the situation.

"No, I don't think I'll be able to sleep."

Hanji offered Eren breakfast and they ate in silence, probably because of the dirty glares that Levi would've shot her if she dared to speak with her mouth full. Eren looked like he was bursting apart with questions riddling his mind, but kept it together.

As soon as the dishes were stacked in the sink, Hanji turned to the boy, grin bordering on maniacal.

"So, Eren, right? I'm Hanji Zoe. Nice to meet you, despite the circumstances. I heard from Levi here that you were able to re–grow teeth, quite curious, isn't it? I'd like you to tell me everything you know about your ability."

"I thought your name was Rivaille?"

"There was no need for you to know my real name." He shot back before glaring at Hanji. And he would've liked to keep it that way, not being as careless as his colleague who gave out personal information to someone she had just met.

"You're as paranoid as ever, didn't you say the kid's fifteen?" Hanji rolled her eyes, doubting that Eren could do any harm.

"And you," she looked at the boy expectantly. "Don't ignore my questions; your life may depend on it."

Eren stared at his hands, still as unwilling to talk as he was yesterday.

"I want to call my friends first. "

Levi's eyes flashed dangerously. "Think about your situation here, kid. You should've been long dead by now, you're alive out of sheer luck and have important people after your head. As much as we'd like to know just what is up with this, don't forget whose hands your life is in. We're placing ourselves in danger by saving your sorry ass. It's in your best interest to tell us everything you know and quick. You'll get to call them afterwards."

That had been building up since the moment Levi noted Eren's hesitance about answering anything and it felt good to see the boy's facial features instantly morph into an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I already told you that I am unsure of my own memories."

Both of their stares made Eren shrink in his seat. Well, it wasn't like he could make the situation any worse.

"All I know is that my dad did this. He regularly injected me with something and ran tests since I was ten. He told me that I was ill and he was looking for a cure. Half a year ago I noticed that injuries healed much faster than they should. I once broke my nose in a fight and my father just set it back. Within an hour there wasn't even a bump left."

A shocking realization was dawning upon Hanji. "Wait, your last name is Jaeger. Is your father by any chance _the_ Grisha Jaeger?"

Eren nodded, watching her eyes widen. A second later she had grabbed Eren by his arm and dragged him to the couch, pushing the boy down on it.

"Levi, get me a thermometer." The man complied, using the chance to slip away from the kitchen to also get dressed quickly.

"Eren, would you mind if I saw your abilities for myself?" She asked, while rummaging through her bag, not exactly waiting for an answer as seconds later she was holding a scalpel In her hand and Eren finally got what she had meant.

"Er… okay, I guess."

"Don't be scared, you won't even–" She grabbed the boy's left arm and a made a small incision, barely an inch in length. "–notice it."

He flinched, trying to pull his arm away instinctively, but the woman held it in an iron grip.

"Here's the thermometer." Levi placed it on the coffee table before freezing at the sight before him. "Hey, not on the couch!" He exclaimed, expecting the blood that oozed from the wound to drip down.

Yet it didn't. The droplet hung millimeters away from dripping down Eren's forearm before stopping, as if time had frozen. The red substance glinted in the sunlight streaming in through the window, indicating the first movement that the human eye couldn't register.

It began seeping back into the wound, like someone had hit a reverse button, not leaving a single smear on Eren's skin. Soon all of the red was gone and small whirls of steam came from the wound as the skin slowly stitched itself back together with invisible threads.

"Holy shit." Was all Hanji could manage before her brain kicked back into gear, the need to understand whether if this was really what she thought it was stopping her from screaming in excitement.

She grabbed the thermometer and stuck it underneath Eren's tongue, effectively startling him.

Hanji turned towards Levi, who had a questioning look on his face. "This will take a while, I'll need to go back and run blood tests. But if this is what I think it is, I might've been stumbling upon the edges of it for a while. There's no way to be really sure though–"

"Just spit it out." Levi interrupted her rant, plopping down on the couch besides Eren, even if there wasn't much space, so he could look the science nut in the eye while she kneeled in front of the boy, who in turn also looked intrigued.

"Grisha Jaeger? That name really doesn't ring a bell to you? No? Pity. Three weeks ago there was this huge scandal about four doctors losing their licenses at the same time. No names were mentioned in official channels though, but something about it seemed fishy, so I dug deeper."

The thermometer beeped and Hanji pulled it out. "37.9°C, are you running a fever?"

Eren shook his head quickly. "It's always like that, I feel fine." Although it was quite handy when he wanted to get away from school. "What were you saying about my dad?"

"It took me a while to find, but I read some rumors on charter web that included the name of Grisha Jaeger. No one really took them seriously since no official protocols or other documents were leaked. The Eotena project – striving to improve the human body, in a nutshell. Not exactly ethical or legal." Right now, she glossed over some of the gruesome details that she really felt like Eren wasn't ready to know. She shot Levi a meaningful look before finally setting the thermometer down.

"What, so I am a part of some project!?" Eren looked mildly shocked. Of course he had figured that he wasn't actually ill, especially after he saw a bruise go through the stages of healing right before his eyes for the first time, but he never could've guessed that he was actually involved in something bigger.

"You might be." Hanji stood up, walking to the counter to pour herself and Levi another cup of coffee. Levi, who, until now, had been carefully watching Eren's expression, also got up.

"You obviously didn't know about this, which doesn't explain why you were so hesitant to talk about it." He took the cup from Hanji and sipped the lukewarm coffee before continuing.

"This makes me wonder if there's something about your condition that we're unaware of. Spill it."

With a defeated look on his face, Eren finally obeyed. "About 5 months ago the black–outs started. I'm apparently still… me, kind of, well, I'm awake and do stuff normally enough for no one to notice, but I can't remember anything I've done. At first it was just a few hours. Now I lose up to three days – not entirely, but it's like the black–outs dominate most of my time. A month ago I…" Eren trailed off, considering skipping over this. They'd find out eventually though and then there would be hell to pay.

"I woke up covered in blood that wasn't mine, three hours away from home by bus. I killed two people. I've no idea who were they."

Neither Hanji nor Levi were the ones to judge. However, this posed a possible threat – Eren was a ticking time bomb that couldn't account for his own actions, which he could manipulate with.

"Does anyone know about any of this?" Levi asked. "It's likely that they are in danger too."

"My friends have some suspicions, but I managed to hide everything, I think."

"Then it's better if you play dead, for your own sake and theirs."

Disappointment displayed across Eren's face. Levi rolled his eyes, what had the kid hoped for, that Levi hide all his friends in his tiny apartment too?

"Do you understand?" Levi asked, more sternly than needed.

"Yes, I do." Defeat and sorrow was audible in Eren's voice. He was really bad at holding back his emotions. It was probably only now sinking in that he'd never see his friends or family again, his life wouldn't be going back to the way it was. Levi couldn't care less, as long as the boy didn't try to sneak off or call anyone. It was for his own good. Seeing his friends drop dead, get into an "accident", be brutally tortured or simply disappear would be worse.

"I'll take some blood samples and then you go and rest, okay, Eren? You look like hell." Hanji smiled, more gently this time. She felt bad for the boy and the situation he was in, plus he seemed like a genuinely nice kid. And he had to stay with Levi, who didn't have the temper to deal with hormonal teenagers appropriately. She didn't envy him.

Levi did the dishes while Hanji filled three vials of blood before talking Eren into going back to bed and he heard something that suspiciously sounded like _'and grab a spare pajamas or something, sleeping in that can't be comfortable, top left drawer, I think'_.

Once the door closed shut Hanji looked at him with a grim expression on her face. If Eren had heard only a version of the truth from her, then Levi had to hear everything.

"Firstly, Eren isn't the only one, if we can believe the rumors. They have some substantial material in them though, since one of the things noted was the higher than normal body temperature." She had come over to the kitchenette now, standing close to Levi and lowering her voice.

"Countless have died in trying to make this work. Some are still in progress, like Eren. The military is behind this, which makes sense. However, the final stage of the Eotena Project is somewhat..." She paused. It had sounded ridiculous even to her. "Nah, probably just some conspiracy nut adding their own share to the information. I can't tell much before seeing some official files."

"However, I have to bring Mike into this. Else I won't be able to help you since I'm not capable of polymetric falcighol derivation and we need every file there is on the Eotena Project, if they aren't gone already, to make sense of this."

Levi nodded. He trusted Mike almost as much as he did Hanji. "There's only one question – what am I to do about him? I can't exactly keep him here, can I? He has no life to look forwards to."

"Could you kill him?" Hanji raised an eyebrow.

"I won't really have a choice when it comes to that."

"You could get someone else to do it."

"That's not the issue." Levi shrugged it off. He had been thinking about the kid's death non–stop for nearly three days, he really needed a break.

Hanji chose not to comment on it. She had a fairly good idea of what would happen.

"I guess I'll get going then. Get some sleep. As soon as I know something, I'll let you know." She went to put the blood samples in her bag with a sigh. "You know, you really could've told me what to take. I packed so much stuff I didn't even need."

"Still worth it, isn't it?"

"Oh honey, you don't need to get me anything for Christmas now."

"Wasn't planning on it."

And then she was out of the door. Levi had never wanted her to stay so badly. He wanted to go out for his morning run. Hell, even grocery shopping. Instead he was alone with Eren Jaeger yet again, with more questions than he had before.

There were a lot bizarre things going on in this world, a lot of bizarre people. What made Eren so special to keep him alive?

Why was he looking for a reason in the first place?

It wasn't like he could sleep it off either, his bed was already taken. So Levi just sank down on his tiny couch, staring at his phone. Erwin still hadn't replied, probably busy with meetings and under the assumption that Levi had gone ahead to ensure that the job got done, extension approved or not.

The news weren't grabbing his attention, neither was the tv. He slowly drifted off, caffeine doing nothing for his exhaustion. Levi didn't even feel the couch sink lower with the added weight of someone else; he was out by the time Eren had peeked out of the bedroom door.

He hadn't slept this peacefully in a long time.

Levi woke up two hours later with something warm pressing against his side and strands of hair tickling his neck. His right arm had fallen asleep.

"What do you think you're doing, brat?" He couldn't muster up a voice loud and harsh enough to really startle the boy, but neither did he have the heart to push him off.

Green eyes blinked open slowly and glanced up at him before Eren pulled back.

"Sorry."

Levi partly wanted to tell the kid to get lost, stop bothering him or something, but decided against it. There was nowhere for Eren to get lost to anyway. Instead they just sat there in silence, pretending to watch the muted television.

A few minutes passed in relative comfort before the warmth was back, even if Eren was clearly awake, he had slumped against Levi's shoulder.

"What are you, trying to cuddle?" Honestly, was he stupid?

Eren stared at his knees stubbornly, still not pulling back. His lower lip was trembling slightly.

_Oh god, no, please don't cry._

Forcing back the sigh that threatened to escape his lips, Levi snaked an arm around Eren's shoulders, patting it stiffly. That was enough incentive for Eren to relax against him further, head resting against his shoulder again.

It wasn't uncomfortable, Levi had to admit. Just really awkward, at least to him. He didn't comfort people, never had. No one ever came to him for comfort and he never went to anyone. Things like that required attachment.

Yet this kid had the guts to demand it from him, in his own passive agressive, personal space bubble bursting way.

"Can I hug you?"

"No."

This was already out of Levi's comfort zone.

Eren drew in a shaky breath. Was he doing this on purpose or was he simply just that desperate for human contact?

"Fine." Annoyance was clearly present in his voice. He might've just gotten guilt tripped into a cuddle and it was a blow to his ego he wouldn't forget anytime soon.

Levi ended up in an awkward position with his upper body twisted sideways as Eren's arms wrapped around his waist, cheek resting against his shoulder while folded legs rested on top of his thighs. He was thankful that Eren had enough tact not to breathe down his neck.

It would probably be more comfortable if they swapped places due to the irritating fact that Eren was good ten centimeters taller than him. But then again the last thing he wanted was for them to get comfortable. He wanted to spend as little amount of time as possible like this.

"Just don't cry. It gets all snotty, wet and ugly." It would be healthier for the boy to just let it all out, but there was a limit to how many articles of clothing Levi was willing to sacrifice for him.

"I won't." Admittedly, his breathing was starting to calm down.

He even went as far as to wrap his other arm around Eren, cue more awkward patting. Was he supposed to say something? 'It's okay, I probably won't kill you today. Can't say for sure though. Oh, and sorry about your family probably being dead and your friends probably being in danger. And sorry about beating you up.' Yeah, great, now he was really starting to feel guilty.

Eren let the tension slip away from his muscles and the older man couldn't help doing the same, mind going blank as warmth from the other's body seeped through his clothes and at the moment that was all that existed. Levi's hand rubbed light, soothing circles against Eren's back.

The arms around his waist tightened, pulling him closer and Levi felt warm fingers against his skin where the fabric of his shirt had bunched up. The boy turned his head so his nose pressed against the crook of Levi's neck, the ghost of Eren's breath blanketing his collarbone in warmth.

This was becoming increasingly more awkward when Levi didn't believe it could. Eren was one wriggle away from sitting on his lap.

"Tea?" He didn't let any of the annoyance or that how uncomfortable he was to seep into his voice or facial expression. Thankfully, Eren pulled back, having already pushed the man far enough and he didn't have a deathwish.

"Yeah." There was a hint of a sheepish smile on Eren's lips and Levi got up quickly, making his escape to the kettle.

Eren drank his tea black, two sugars. Levi chose peppermint for himself and refused to return to the couch, even if both of them sitting at the kitchen counter made him have a bad sense of déjà vu. At least Eren had witnessed him make the beverage this time.

"What is it like, working as a hitman?" Eren asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"There's no need for you to make small talk. You're not good at it." Levi pointed out.

"I'm just curious, that's all. I know nothing about you except your name and that you can deliver sick kicks."

Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"It's a job. It pays well, it's strenous and the ability to seperate it from your personal life is vital." Levi found himself answering honestly after an inner deliberation.

"You seem... too normal. Too casual for that."

The boy really didn't think before spouting nonsense.

"What did you expect?"

"Well, someo–"

"It was a rhetorical question."

Eren fell silent after that and Levi regretted interrupting him. He wasn't good at conversations. He was too straight–forward and didn't clutter his own mind with thoughts of what others thought of him, of their feelings.

It showed.

It was 10.27am and all they could do was wait. Levi hated waiting. He used the silence to excuse himself for a shower and told the boy to watch some tv.

When he came out, Eren had dozed off on the couch again, lanky limbs sprawled across the pillows in all directions. Some cartoon channel was on (since when did he have that?) and Levi switched the tv off.

He didn't disturb the boy as there was no reason to hide him anymore. The only person who'd show up on his doorstep anytime soon was Hanji.

His phone chimed. Speak of the devil.

_"The files are on our sister server, added three days ago, incomplete. Got the lab results. I'll be at your place in 40 min or so._

–_Hanji"_

Their sister server? Apparently, the same people that wanted Eren dead were the ones that created and terminated the project, nothing surprising there. Levi had thought so too. Hanji had said there were others, so it was safe to assume that at least most of them were dead already.

What didn't make sense were the incomplete files. Were they trying to hide something? On a server that's protected by a fractal password? That put even Levi's paranoia to shame. But, if so, they would appear as edited three days ago, not added. This reeked of theft.

Just in _whose _affairs was he meddling now?

He glanced back at Eren, who was still in the same position.

_"Grab some take–out on the way._

–_Levi"_

He knew she'd get something good, not too drenched in saturated fat. And there was no way Levi would cook today.

He spent exactly 23 minutes catching up on the news, finances and politics mainly, when the doorbell rang. Hanji was quicker than expected, but he wasn't about to complain.

Levi opened the door only to freeze on the spot.

Erwin Smith stood before him, suit immaculate and briefcase in hand, the same unreadable expression in place.

"Where's Eren Jaeger?"


	5. Human error

I keep thinking 'this is too violent, I should warn everyone, what if the fandom throws up on me', but then I remember that you've all watched and enjoyed SNK anyway. Thank fuck. Well, just so you know, I'm counting on it.

Also, how many of you are up to date with the manga? So far this has been spoiler free, but it might not in the future (within 4 chapters there could be spoilers of chapter 45-47 of the manga, but if anyone's not up to date with it, I won't spoil it).

Also, thank you for the lovely reviews! I'm sorry if I didn't reply to you, I promise I will next time! You all really make my day and it means so much to me.

* * *

_"Where's Eren Jaeger?"_

No, it wasn't supposed to happen like this. Levi considered slamming the door shut in Erwin's face as his mind ran wild with possibilities of what could happen now – none of them were good. Eren was definitely dead the minute Erwin laid his eyes upon him. Levi didn't know what would happen to himself, the older man most likely wouldn't harm him _too _much, but the possibility of some form of punishment was there.

Instead of shutting the door, grabbing Eren and running down the fire–escape, Levi simply answered in a calm voice.

"On the couch."

Erwin let himself in as Levi stepped aside.

"Ah, that couch is awful. His back is going to hurt."

Neither of them said anything after that. Erwin put his briefcase on the coffee table and observed the sleeping boy with mild curiosity being the only thing Levi could read from his expression.

Levi's eyes narrowed as he watched the other man turn around to face him properly.

"You've been promoted."

There was no trace of sarcasm, mocking or anger in Erwin's voice. At this point he was exceeding Levi's wildest expectations. The most uncomfortable pause stretched between them.

"What?" Eloquence at its finest.

The blond glanced back at Eren to make sure he was still asleep before making his way towards the kitchen counter to sit down. If Erwin was sitting down, that meant they were about to have a talk. And Levi wasn't looking forwards to it.

"You did what you were supposed to do." At least Erwin had the decency to look somewhat apologetic, genuine or not. "I trusted that you wouldn't kill him and you did exactly what I expected you to."

Levi was 75% sure that Erwin was bullshitting him, 25% that he had gone even more insane. The other's words took a while to sink in, but as soon as they did, he could feel his blood beginning to boil.

"You _what!?_" He hissed ferociously. "You sent me after a fifteen year boy with a clear order to kill, but, _oopsie_, forgot to told me that I'm only supposed to _pretend_ to kill him?" Levi stepped closer to the sitting man, voice dropping lower and eyes on fire with anger.

If it had been anyone but Erwin, they'd probably piss themselves from fear. The blond kept his expression calm, but even he felt fairly uncomfortable being faced with Levi's anger, but then again he had experienced it before, five years ago. And this wasn't unexpected.

"Please, let me explain, I'm sure you'll understand. How about I make us some coffee? You look like you could use it."

Levi stared at him in disbelief. Was this man serious?

"I could use a bottle of vodka."

Erwin only smiled at him, as if it was some sort of a joke, while Levi had been absolutely serious. Did he not understand that Levi was seconds away from tearing that annoyingly fancy suit into shreds along with Erwin's whole being? He had never wanted to use his deadly combat skills on him _this_ much.

"Levi, sit down."

"No."

Erwin sighed while fetching the coffee from the cupboard. "I wasn't sure about what to do either. There's a lot of interest in Eren. Some want him dead and others want him captured, I wasn't sure which side we were on, which would have more influence in case of a split, which did indeed happen, as I had predicted."

His movements were precise and calculated even while making coffee.

"So the upper echelon split. This will not only affect us, but the whole economics and politics scene, even military priorities, within time. Check the news in a few days, I'm sure you'll notice the changes. They'll be subtle at first, but this is a turning point."

Levi pushed his anger back and did what was expected of him – professionalism before emotions. He sat down.

"I have known about the Eotena Project for a while, I'm sure you're aware of its existence by now." Erwin didn't turn around to see Levi's curt nod of affirmation, but continued anyway.

"I've anticipated something like this happening, so I gambled on the proportions in which the opinions about Eren Jaeger would split when it came to discussing his... use. But I had to keep it a secret; there are still some questions of loyalty within the organization. That's why I chose you to do the job, I knew you wouldn't kill a fifteen year old."

The pieces of the puzzle were starting to settle in their places for Levi.

"So, basically, I have a human weapon dozing off on my couch there."

"Are you sure he's asleep, Levi?"

He looked back to confirm it. Still the same position, same breathing pattern, but at least he was no longer snoring. Although Levi didn't even care, Eren should know everything. If they couldn't trust him completely within time, he would be useless to them.

"If he stirs, the good old pressure point trick will do."

Erwin poured the coffee into two cups and pushed one towards Levi.

"You've proven to be extremely useful, even more than expected. I will entrust you with Eren. His state is quite fragile, he can become dangerous, but you can and will manage it."

There wasn't even a hint of a question in Erwin's voice. This was a clear order.

"You want me to babysit him, that's my promotion?" The last word was accompanied by a sneer.

"No one else can do it. You'll be moving to a different apartment three days from now, about an hour from here. Don't let Eren out of your sight, even if there shouldn't be any danger by now, I doubt the opposition is aware of Eren's whereabouts. But I have to warn you that when you get your next job, you will be taking him along."

Levi's jaw nearly dropped, but not a muscle moved in Erwin's face.

"You want me to take the kid along on a _job?_"

"Not only he needs to be babysat, as you put it, he also needs to be trained."

Erwin looked at his wristwatch and set down the nearly full cup of coffee.

"Please explain this to Hanji. I'm in a rush, negotiations, meetings considering the new situation; I'll tell you the details once you move, you'll have a clear plan of action, no more fumbling around in the dark. For now – lay low."

Whether he wanted it or not, Levi had to admit that Erwin's strategic skills were top notch. That didn't mean he was completely over the whole ordeal, his voice still held some animosity when bidding Erwin goodbye.

Exactly 35 minutes had passed and Hanji should be getting here any second now. Levi froze, hand still on the doorknob. It had almost sounded as if Erwin had known she would come.

_I have known about the Eotena Project for a while, I'm sure you're aware of its existence by now._

_You've proven to be extremely useful, even more than expected._

Why did he know so much? Why did he trust Levi blindly with Eren's life?

It all clicked into place and Levi pulled the door open the same moment the doorbell rang.

"Was that Erwin I just saw?" Hanji looked pale, but Levi just pushed past her and ran down the stairs barefoot, two steps at a time. Erwin would've taken the lift and drove here; he still had chances of catching the man.

Erwin almost ran Levi over with his car. He got in the passenger seat immediately.

"You bugged my flat!?" The couch scene flashed into his mind and Levi felt even angrier.

Erwin sighed. He had really hoped to keep that from the other man. It was a necessity that Levi wouldn't understand.

"You tapped my phone!?" Levi was close to yelling and his nails were digging into the skin of his palms, undoubtedly leaving marks as his fists trembled, itching to collide with Erwin's jaw.

"I did what I had to do to ensure your and Eren's safety."

Levi saw red and aimed for Erwin's nose, but his anger only increased tenfold as the other caught his wrist in an iron grip, pulling Levi closer.

"I have a very important meeting. Showing up late with blood on my shirt and a broken nose wouldn't be good at all."

"I put my trust in you."

"So do I, just my responsibilities allow only so much of it."

There was a honk from the car behind them and Erwin released Levi's wrist. This was his cue to get out.

"And don't let your heart grow soft." The blue eyes were icier than ever before Levi slammed the door of the black Porsche shut. He knew very well what had Erwin jabbed at.

He probably had men texting him reports of what Levi did, whom he called, what he had for breakfast.

Levi walked back, anger replaced by something hollow that hardened his expression.

Hanji was beyond confused; at least Levi was assured that she wasn't in on it. Right now she was Levi's favorite person in the whole world. She had even brought them some decent Thai from the place where they didn't drown everything in peanut sauce.

Eren was awake and he explained the situation to them briefly, excluding some details, like the fact that Eren would most likely be turned into a killing machine. Luckily, it seemed that he hadn't heard anything from Levi's and Erwin's conversation since the fact that someone had been here surprised him.

"Why did you run after Erwin?" The question had obviously burned on Hanji's tongue ever since he had returned.

"He bugged my apartment and tapped my phone." Levi shrugged, no point in lying. Hanji whistled, Eren's food fell from his mouth back on the plate and Levi pulled a face at the sight.

Hanji didn't mention the files or the lab results and Levi assumed it was because of Eren's presence. Instead she gave him an USB drive before saying goodbye.

Levi spent rest of the day finding and storing away every single hidden camera there was. There were 5 in total. Instead of destroying them he put them in a cardboard box and tucked it away under his bed. Let them enjoy the sound of Eren's snoring and no picture to accompany it.

The atmosphere was still somewhat tense. The day after Hanji's visit they simply ran out of things to do. Levi couldn't even go over the files in peace because of Eren's constant pestering. The boy still hadn't given up on trying to engage into conversations while Levi was as taciturn as always. He had explained to Eren that they would most likely be living together for a while and he'd know more about what's going on once they moved and that was about the longest sentence he managed to string together.

Judging from the Eotena Project files the important parts were missing and he didn't really learn anything new. And the blood test results confused him with the science lingo. Levi would just have to wait for an opportunity to talk to Hanji.

They both grew increasingly restless. Levi desperately wanted to call Hanji and ask her to babysit Eren while he at least went for a run, but she had texted him that she off to France for a week.

Eren was in worse state than Levi. He was obviously moody about being coped up for this long in the small apartment and if Levi didn't talk to him, which he didn't feel like doing, that would be submitting to domesticity and he wanted to post–pone that as much as possible, then there was no other way how Levi could keep him busy.

The boy was awful at cleaning and there wasn't much to clean in these 45 square meters anyway. There wasn't much to pack since Levi didn't hold onto material possessions and even if Eren offered to help, he wouldn't let the kid near his stuff. Overall Eren Jaeger proved to be pretty useless – he didn't even know how to do the laundry and his cooking was a disaster, the kid had managed to burn toast. How could you burn toast when using a toaster!?

He didn't like any of the books Levi had and he was prohibited from using his phone or the internet. Levi argued that video games would rot his brain, not listening to any arguments.

Levi spotted a spider on the bookshelf and Eren announced that he had named the arachnid 'Tommy' and at this point Levi was about to snap. He stalked off to clean and polish his guns. Eren fell silent quickly enough.

The last evening arrived and Levi refused Eren's offer of them swapping so Levi wouldn't have to sleep on the couch (his back was killing him). When Eren said that they could just both sleep in the bedroom Levi said no without as much as looking at the boy.

He really hoped that this would somehow work out. Maybe he'd magically become good with kids. Although Eren was worse than a kid. He was a teenager and Levi thought that hearing Eren jerk off in the shower twice was enough. Eren probably didn't even realize how vocal he was and the walls were paper thin here. At least the reaction Levi got when commenting that 'he should bite down on something when coming, less noisy' was amusing and he didn't have to see Eren for good three hours as the boy sulked in the bedroom.

Around 8pm Levi finally caved in to Eren's whims and agreed to order pizza. He had spent nearly 5 years in this place, might as well go out with a calorific bang to celebrate.

They put in the order and Levi almost gagged at Eren's choice of toppings (honestly, who put pineapple, tuna _and _bacon on their pizza). These few days had already made him doubt that they could live together and suffice with only one fridge. At least the overall atmosphere had improved.

They didn't have to wait long before the doorbell rang and Levi grabbed his wallet before opening the door.

He hadn't suspected anything. Yet that didn't change the fact that stars danced behind his eyelids as the stranger slammed Levi's head against the doorframe, blood gushing out of his temple where skin had been broken by sharp splinters, before delivering a swift kick to his ribs. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Eren's terrified face.

The sounds of struggle reached his ears before Levi's sight returned, cloudy at first. Blood stung his left eye, still warm. He hadn't been out for long.

The coffee table was smashed, glass littering the floor and glimmering. The intruder was on top of Eren, trying to hold him down while the boy had a feral look on his face that intensified by every passing second and trashed around wildly.

Levi tried to get up, but the world was spinning, threatening with unconsciousness so he stayed on the ground, trying to gather his strength and calm his breathing so he could get up and put a bullet into the back of that lowlife's head.

A sound escaped Eren's throat, catching Levi off guard, something between a growl and a groan. It sounded ferocious. His pupils were blown, only leaving a thin sliver of green barely visible. A morbid, insatiable hunger glimmered in the black depths.

He had grabbed the attacker's head, exposing his throat. Levi expected for him to snap the neck yet Eren bared his teeth instead, jaw opening so wide it seemed impossible while legs wrapped around the man's waist, holding him in place effectively. Levi was baffled by his apparent strength. He didn't even pay any mind to the shreds of glass that stuck out of his arm. Levi froze, transfixed on the sight before him while the inklings of instinctive fear coursed through his veins. Something about this was terribly off.

Eren sank his teeth in the flesh and pulled his victim closer. Blood gushed out of his mouth in bright red spurts. His jaw was at the point where Levi was sure it would break, yet Eren just bit deeper and deeper, nails leaving angry marks from where he was holding the man down. Only now did he realize what the deafening sound was. The man was screaming, the sound made his toes curl and stomach lurch. A second later it was all over, blood spurting everywhere as Eren pulled back.

He had ripped his major aorta out. A chunk of flesh was missing, leaving a pulsing, grotesque opening.

Eren didn't spit it out. He swallowed.

At this point Levi realized that it was no longer Eren Jaeger. He didn't even know if _it_ was still human. And all he could do was lie there as horror slowly overtook him. Eren had no control over himself.

Eren's fingers dug into the inflicted wound and pulled it apart, tendons ripping apart as more blood was drained from the body. The sound of flesh stretching before breaking, slippery and warm, along with Eren's animalistic panting was obscene. His eyes found Levi's and something akin to a smile stretched onto the blood stained mouth while faint puffs of steam escaped his lips.

By the time he was done the man's head was barely attached to the rest of his body, the milky white of a broken vertebrae peeking out sharply, and Levi felt a sickness coiling in the pit of his stomach.

Levi had never seen anything like this. He could deal with people, vicious human monsters, but not something that did not have any humanity in the first place, something that was unnatural. The realization that something like this existed in the first place made a fear so primal wake up in him that it had swept his mind blank.

Eren pushed the lifeless body off of himself and stood up, wiping at his mouth and chin with the back of his hand, only smearing the red substance further. Eren was covered in blood – it was on his face, between his teeth, wetting his clothes, in his hair, under his fingernails along with shreds of skin and muscle tissue.

He started walking towards Levi and the older man tried to get up, holding onto the doorframe as his knees seemed to have liquefied. This wasn't a delusion, it wouldn't disappear unless he did something.

Eren loomed over him, watching the pitiful struggle with his lead filled muscles before slamming Levi against the wall, causing him to inhale sharply.

"You look scared."

It wasn't Eren's voice, it was deep and guttural. Yet it could talk. Make a sentence. It was intelligent and that terrified Levi.

Eren leaned closer, further pushing the shorter man up the wall, to the point he was standing on his tiptoes, not supporting his own weight. The coppery stench coming from Eren's mouth was sickening and Levi desperately wanted to turn his face away, but found himself unable to move a single muscle. He tried to muster some strength in his glare instead.

"Are you scared of _me_?" Mockery was evident in the words.

But he was. Levi was scared shitless and his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest from how hard it was hammering against his ribcage. He had forgotten how to breathe properly, only taking short gasps of air.

The image of Eren ripping the man's throat out with his bare teeth _and swallowing the flesh_ replayed in his mind over and over and over again.

Eren released him and Levi was burdened with holding his own weight again before a new pain distracted him from it. Fingers had slid into his hair, gripping the black locks tightly and tilting his head back.

A finger trailed up his now exposed throat, leaving a damp, undoubtedly red trail behind it before soft pads swiped across his lips. Levi swallowed nervously, praying for his knees not to give out. Eren's touch was scorching hot, just like his breath, unnaturally so.

The hand was gone from his face, only to wrap around his waist. Levi didn't even have a single second to make an assumption about what was about to happen before Eren's lips were smashed against his own.

Teeth bit down on his bottom lip and Eren didn't hesitate to slip his tongue in, exploring and mapping every corner of his mouth. The clashing teeth distracted Levi from the disgusting, overly sweet taste of blood. He didn't even know if it was his own, Eren's or the now dead attacker's.

The hand in his hair tightened, bending him back even more and Levi found his hands gripping Eren's shoulders.

He felt saliva dripping down his chin and the heat of Eren's breath was getting to his head. Suddenly Eren was sucking and nipping, teeth tugging at his earlobe and Levi didn't even register the gasps that slipped past his own lips, all he could hear was his frantic heartbeat and blood humming with fear and the kind of adrenalin he had long since forgotten.

Open mouthed kisses against his throat followed by teeth grazing against his Adam's apple, his heartbeat like an open book against Eren's tongue; it made Levi freeze in fear of meeting the same end as the other man. Eren's hands were everywhere, groping and touching, blunt fingernails surprisingly sharp, leaving marks on his hips and lower back.

Levi found himself looking into the other's eyes again. The same hunger had only increased, yet it possessed a perverse kind of gentleness.

He could feel the blood from the other's clothes seeping through his own and an erection pressing against his hipbone.

This wasn't Eren. He wanted Eren back.

Instead of throwing up he kneed the other in his stomach, eliciting a low growl. As if someone had flipped a switch in his brain, he watched from afar as his own body moved, having no control over it.

Even if right now Eren was physically stronger than him, his reaction time was slow.

Blow against the heart, not hard enough to break the ribs, but hard enough to disturb the beating rhythm, kick the head to further disorientate the victim, punch the cervical curve to bring them down. Once they're on the ground, press foot against their back for leverage, grab elbows, pull back the arms.

Eren's shoulders popped with a gruesome sound.

He had passed out before his arms were pulled out of their sockets.

First thing Levi did was close the door. Hopefully none of the neighbors had called the police or walked past the scene.

Second thing he did was grab a glock 19, screw on the silencer and pray that his neighbors would tolerate two 120 decibel blows if Eren came to and Levi would need to shoot him in the kneecaps.

Then, finally, he called Erwin and let himself slump against the door, eyes not leaving Eren's unconscious form.

–_"Yes?"_

–_"I need a cleanup team and Eren needs a doctor."_

–_"15 minutes."_

The line went silent.

Only then Levi checked if Eren was still breathing.

Thankfully, he was.


	6. A greater purpose

So I had my week of blankly staring at the ceiling and picking apart my writing and crying over it.

And wowowoww I'm so surprised at the amount of feedback I'm getting on this, thank you guys! I love hearing what you think!

* * *

When the medics arrived Levi was still sitting on the floor, gun in hand. His head was throbbing and getting up made nausea swirl in his gut. He breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out to be Petra Ral, who had tended to him previously and Levi trusted her entirely.

She had a fairly young looking man in tow, probably a newbie, considering how he paled upon seeing the scene of crime - the grotesque corpse and blood covering not only the floor, but also Eren and even Levi, who had sacrificed cleaning his hands for the sake of watching over the unconscious boy.

"I'm glad I don't need to know what happened here." Even Petra, who had seen a lot of morbid scenes, looked mildly disturbed by the sight before her, no sign of the usually bright smile on her petite features.

"Pump his stomach and check his shoulder joints. Might be dislocated."

"Has he been poisoned?" She questioned, not wasting time and already crouching beside Eren, checking the boy's pulse. "Possible fractures in the shoulders?"

"No. Just pump it out." He paused briefly, trying not to wince at the memory. He was sure that Eren would thank him later. "And there shouldn't be any fractures." Levi's face was grim and she nodded, not asking any further questions.

She got to work with relocating the shoulders first, pulling up Eren's torso gently and ordering the other man to hold him. It was done quickly and Levi was glad that Eren was unconscious for what followed next - getting your stomach pumped was a very unpleasant experience.

"Gunter, check on Levi."

Normally he hated others fussing over his injuries, but now he didn't mind that much, needing a reason to pry his eyes away from the rubber tube that was slid into Eren's throat.

Gunter inspected his head injury before disinfecting it.

"Dizzy, nauseous?"

Levi's ears had started to ring and he nodded.

"Probably a mild concussion, I'll just sleep it off. If needed, I'll come in for an x-ray a few days later."

If Petra hadn't been busy with getting the contents of Eren's stomach out, she'd be glaring at the man, knowing his careless antics, but the younger man simply nodded, accepting Levi's choice.

A bandage was wrapped around his head and Gunter noted how dull towards pain Levi was, suspecting that the man was pretty out of it and that the concussion might be worse than seemed.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Levi pulled up his shirt, he had forgotten about the kick he'd received to his ribs until now. A bruise was forming on the left side, accompanied by a swollen lump. Gunter touched it carefully, feeling the bone.

"I doubt it's broken, but it might be fractured. You really need to come in for a checkup, as soon as possible. For that concussion too."

"Exactly! Erwin's wrath will fall upon us if you drop dead anytime soon. You really need to take better care of yourself."

Along with Petra's voice Levi heard the sloshing sound of Eren's stomach being emptied and chose not to say anything. He would've liked to go to the hospital right now, pristine white walls and the overwhelming smell of disinfectant would do him good. Away from all the red, away from Eren and the mess he was dragging Levi into. But he didn't have the luxury of taking a small vacation like that now.

The clean-up team arrived, not fazed by what was going on. He nodded upon seeing Auruo and wobbled towards the bathroom to finally wash his hands, ignoring Petra's "Don't get up yet!"

Levi looked in the mirror and not even his youthful face could hide the toll this job was taking on him - he looked awful. Pale, exhausted, sickly sheen of sweat covering his face, stained with blood. His throat was marred with purple bruises and Levi was thankful that no one had questioned it.

When he finished scrubbing off as much blood as possible his skin felt raw.

There was nowhere to sit but the kitchenette so Levi sank on one of the bar stools and watched clean-up team zip up the body.

"Hey, Auruo, did the guy have a gun?"

"Luckily for you and that kid, no. Personally, I don't even know what he was thinking. I didn't know you had this much brutality in you, finishing him off like that, but I guess that's expected of the best." The man sounded too cheerful.

Levi didn't bother enlightening Auruo that Eren was the one to do the deed. Shouldn't it be obvious from the amount of blood on their clothes? Levi was more occupied with trying to figure out why the guy hadn't just shot them. The other party wanted Eren dead, right? Yet he hadn't had any lethal weapons on him.

He fished out his phone and dialed Erwin's number. It went to voicemail.

_"We need to move tonight, I don't think it's safe."_

They knew where he lived. Levi had a feeling that someone would try again and soon. He was good at killing people, yes, going after them and pushing them in a corner, but waiting like a trapped mouse didn't bode well with him at all. Not when his life wasn't the only one Levi had to worry about.

Petra came up to him, looking worried. "That boy over there... he isn't looking too good. He's running a very high fever and there's blood in his stomach." She looked hesitant, but decided not to continue. Levi could guess the questions she wanted to ask from the look on her face. What was a kid doing in his apartment, who was he, why were they attacked. This wasn't a standard situation.

"He's quite sturdy. I wouldn't gamble with his life." Levi shook his head. "A hospital, no matter how high the security, just isn't safe right now."

Petra nodded reluctantly. She told Gunter to carry Eren to the bedroom and pointed in the direction of it, knowing the layout of the flat well enough as she had been here previously, patching up Levi.

"Take care, okay?" She looked worried and Levi managed a small smile, even if it did nothing to console her. A small hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

They left and the clean-up team was done after half an hour.

It was nearing midnight when the phone rang and Levi jumped at the sound of it.

—_"I'll be there in twenty minutes, pack essentials and I'll take you there myself."_

Levi had never been so comforted by how calm Erwin sounded.

—_-"Eren's unconscious and I have a possibly fractured rib, come upstairs."_

—_"Got it."_

Those were one of the most stressful 20 minutes in his life and only once Eren was in Erwin's hands and Levi had slid in the passenger seat did he feel at ease.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault." Was Erwin's response once Levi had explained exactly what had happened.

"I should've predicted it. There's been a loyalty issue and this happened while I was in a meeting where the details were probably leaked." He hesitated for a second, glancing at Levi, who looked pretty out of it.

"The sixth camera, the most wide-ranged one. You found only five of them. I assume that's how they knew. There's now an organization that wants to capture Eren alive."

Levi simply nodded, he already had his doubts. They fell into silence for nearly the rest of the drive after Erwin assured him that he would explain everything tomorrow. Levi was thankful for that; he wouldn't be able to comprehend it all in his current state anyway.

The streets were nearly empty and Erwin drove close to the speed limit. They got there in 45 minutes. Turned out Erwin had bought the whole apartment complex and was considering moving most of their employees there. Levi didn't know how he felt about having Hanji as his neighbor.

He felt surprisingly sleepy at this point, the events of the evening seemed like it had happened yesterday. After a while it all became a blur and he didn't even register how he got into bed, how he changed his clothes, whether he showered or not. All he cared about was that they were safe with the amount of security the building had and with a gun under the pillow. There were two bedrooms and he welcomed the solitude and softness of his new mattress.

Levi dreamed of the feeling of Eren's lips against his neck, gentler this time. The eyes that looked down on him were normal, not a trace of the animalistic hunger in them, there wasn't any blood on his face while his hands still had the same roughness about them, as if Eren didn't know what to do as they trailed down Levi's body. He was talking yet the voice was muffled, as if underwater.

The dream jolted him awake at exactly 8am and Levi pushed it to the back of his mind as he got out of the bed. First thing he did was check on Eren, who had sprawled across the bed and kicked the blanket off. Levi didn't remember redressing him, so Erwin must've done that. Eren's hair was plastered to his face from the fever.

Knowing the nature of his body, a damp towel wouldn't do shit for him, so Levi left the boy to sleep it off after covering him with the blanket again.

The apartment was large, much spacious than his previous one and fully furnished. Two bedrooms, separate kitchen (he already missed the kitchenette); light streamed freely into the living area through the clear windows; there were empty bookcases, a much more comfortable looking couch and a coffee table that made Levi remember the way broken glass had glimmered in artificial light.

It felt too large, too empty and he didn't know how to fill it. He preferred small spaces; they didn't speak of his severe lack of personal items. Levi had to remind himself that he would no longer be living alone.

It was surreal. Most of his life he had been on his own, after Erwin offered him the peculiar job offer he barely came into contact with people. Bringing death didn't require conversation. Now he was to live together with a fifteen year old boy. None of this felt right, he had been pulled out along with his roots and turned upside down.

Levi didn't really know what to do. All he had grabbed before Erwin came was his phone, laptop and chargers, change of clothes and a gun with enough rounds to put holes into at least 4 people with his eyes shut. His head was still throbbing and his ribs ached, exercising was out of the question. There was no food in the fridge and no wi-fi.

He only now noticed that there was a door that lead to a small balcony so Levi went outside. Seventh floor, decent view. Were those flowers in a pot? He made a mental note to discard of those later.

Fresh air did him good, even if the morning breeze was a breath of fall that was approaching quickly. Time passed at a snail's pace as he watched the clouds draw together in a steel gray mass, promising rain. Levi went inside after the first droplets landed against his face.

He got out of the shower just in time to open the door for the movers, hair still dripping wet. At least now he had something to do, even if after half an hour of carrying around boxes from room to room, deciding where to put everything, made his left side hurt even more.

Eren was starting to stir around the same time Levi went to check up on him again.

"Get up, it's nearly 11am."

A groan came from the blanket cocoon that the boy had created around himself. The fever must've passed, leaving him vulnerable to the chilled air.

"But muum... five more..."

Levi's eyebrow twitched.

"Eren. Get up before I drag you out."

Some sense must've dawned upon the kid and soon a messy head of chocolate brown hair emerged from the pile, eyes cloudy with sleep and fixed on Levi for a few seconds, looking him up and down before trailing over the room.

"Uhhh..."

"Yeah, new apartment. Now get in the shower before you contaminate the whole place."

"How did I get here?"

"You blacked out. I'll explain later."

Eren crawled back under the blankets after saying he'd get up any second.

Levi snorted and left the room. He had to go and try to wake Eren up thrice more. By 12am he was finally out of bed, by 12.30 Levi was knocking on the bathroom door and yelling at him not to sleep in the shower.

Erwin arrived with coffee and sandwiches and he was Levi's (and probably Eren's too) favorite person in the world at that moment.

They all sat in the new living room and it felt oddly foreign, for a while they just sipped on their caffeinated drinks in silence - espresso for Levi, americano for Erwin and some sweet latte thing for Eren that Levi wrinkled his nose at.

"Eren, how much do you remember from what happened yesterday?" Erwin's watched the boy carefully.

"Uh... not much. I can't understand what I've dreamt and what actually happened."

Erwin nodded. "You had a... let's call it an episode. You and Levi were attacked, Levi was knocked out and you killed the man." He sounded far too casual and it did nothing to lessen the effect that the information had on Eren.

"I did what!?" He glanced at Levi, who nodded in affirmation, before looking back at Erwin.

"Your life was in danger, it's more than understandable. It's thanks to you we're all sitting here." Levi was starting to feel uncomfortable. Erwin had obviously seen the footage and he was left to wonder just how much of what had happened it actually covered.

"Firstly, I should explain our current situation. Before you came along the upper echelon of our organization was fairly united, but now the opinions differ too much. To put it in simple terms – one part wants you alive, one wants you captured and then there's us, we would also like to keep you alive."

Eren looked beyond confused.

"But I'm just an ordinary teenager, what would anyone want with me!?"

"No, Eren, you're anything but ordinary and you know that. You have a very peculiar power in which a lot of people are interested, their respect towards you as a human being, however, differs."

Levi leaned back again the couch, the styrofoam cup warming his hands. What was Erwin planning to do, sweet talk him into killing people?

"Having you on their side would mean having a lot of influence. No one but us know that you're unable to control your power, except those that wish to kill you." He kept skirting around the issue, not mentioning a single name. Upper echelon his ass, Levi knew well enough that it was the government they were talking about. He'd checked the news and sure enough, parties were beginning to re-form and split, but Eren wouldn't understand that.

Eren still looked confused. Levi sighed, already opening his mouth to give his own two cents, but Erwin beat him to it.

"There are also some bad news. Those who are trying to find you are trying to do it through any connections you left before disappearing. Carla Jaeger has been found dead two days ago."

Every one of Eren's facial muscles showed how shock turned into a mixture of sadness and anger in slow-motion as the news sank in. He didn't say anything, just stared down at his drink, hands clenching the cup so hard Levi thought it would break.

Silence engulfed them once again, neither Levi nor Erwin knowing how to console the boy. Both of them had dealt with so much grief in their life that they knew the best medicine for it was time and more death, until you became numb to it.

Tears began rolling down Eren's face and a pack of tissues was slid on the table towards him. He didn't take one.

"I know this is sudden, but we don't have much time to waste. Your life will change, it is not going to be normal, I hope you understand and accept this as soon as possible, Eren. People will come after you, what happened yesterday will repeat. It's only a matter of time until they figure out your location."

Levi shot Erwin a look of disbelief. No way was the man going to use the death of a kid's mother to force him into rash decisions.

"Your friends will be in danger. You are in danger. Levi is in danger. People are going to die."

Eren was still staring at his own hands, not even a sob had escaped him, the tears just streamed down his face while Eren bit down on his lower lip. A choked cry was stuck somewhere in his throat.

"Eren, breathe." Levi reminded him, seeing that his face was beginning to turn red.

Green eyes shot up at him, full of anger before he exhaled harshly.

"Breathe calmly."

"My mother is– is dead, my friends might be too soon _and you tell me to breathe calmly!?" _He wasn't far from yelling.

"It's quite simple, Eren. Kill them before they kill anyone else close to you."

Eren looked at the blond incredulously.

"Your hands are already stained with blood. It is in your nature to kill and you can't ignore it. Give the death you bring a purpose."

Levi didn't know what he had been expecting. He knew how ruthless Erwin could be, had carefully picked words like this spun on himself years ago, landing him where he was now.

Erwin leaned back in his seat, looking much like he was discussing a mere business deal. Levi had a feeling that this was all it was to him.

"It's your call, Eren. You're free to do whatever you please; stay with us, go on your own or wait for others to find you."

Eren had stopped shaking, tears no longer running down his face. All that could be heard was his heavy breathing. He opened his mouth to speak multiple times, yet nothing came out.

Levi couldn't fathom what was currently running through Eren's mind. The situation certainly wasn't enviable.

"I'll kill them all."

Levi raised an eyebrow at Eren's words. That was unexpected. Although it was the best course of events from the possibilities, there was no way it could be healthy for Eren to bounce back by channeling his initial sorrow into murderous anger.

"Then you have to learn how to control yourself."

Blue eyes settled onto Levi and he immediately understood what that implied. If Eren went on a rampage, he would have to be the one to put him down. He was the one who had seen it firsthand, the one who actually knew how dangerous Eren could be, the memory of primal fear still fresh in his mind.

"Figure out how the episodes are triggered and how they can be stopped, for starters. Levi will take care of the rest."

Eren looked like he had a whole lot of questions, but Erwin had already gotten up. "Sorry, I'm on a tight schedule here." Levi had to bite back saying _when aren't you._

"Levi, walk with me."

He had no choice but to follow, leaving Eren alone and still pretty confused and shocked by the turn his life had taken and the news he had gotten. He'd probably do some good with 10 minutes alone so that slow brain of his could mull over it all.

The door closed behind them and Levi didn't hesitate to question Erwin's intentions.

"What are you planning to do; these aren't going to be regular hits, are they? You were the one that taught me that influence and power could not be built on fear."

"There are different kinds of fear. The most basic human fear is of the unknown and Eren is exactly that." He glanced down at Levi, eyes pleading for him to bear with this and understand. "I'm not acting entirely on my own accord here. A lot of eyes will be watching this, judging whether he is fit for a greater purpose."

Levi's eyes narrowed at the response. "I'm not stupid, but if you keep me in the dark all the time I cannot vouch for my actions to go down the route you have planned."

The lift opened to the underground parking lot and their time was nearly up.

"Take care of Eren. Don't teach him everything you know, for his own sake. The bare minimum should be enough."

Levi swore that one day he would key Erwin's car if he kept skirting around the real issues. _Greater purpose _his ass. He doubted it would be great for Eren, his current motivation would last only for so long while climbing up the pile of corpses, ticking names off Erwin's list.

Levi was sure a new motivation would appear. Erwin would provide that. That's what they all needed at first, a reason, a greater good. It lost meaning once you stopped counting the bodies. Then there was no longer a need for a reason, you did it because it was the only thing you knew how to do.

Eren was still in the same spot when Levi returned, face grim and eyes redder than before. He had been crying.

"Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself."

The brunet looked up at him, expression unchanging,

"Will I be able to go to the funeral?"

"Probably not. You can visit later."

They fell silent and Levi desperately wanted to hide behind the screen of his laptop, but even he couldn't ignore Eren's situation. Sure, his life had gone pretty insane and he was forced to live with an anti-social assassin, but the worst part was probably that he didn't have a single distraction.

"Hey. How about we get out of the house for a bit, god knows we both could use it." He felt slightly uncomfortable even proposing this. But hopefully Eren would refrain from crying in public. And after what had happened yesterday, the bruises on his neck a firm reminder, he didn't feel like being wrangled into another impromptu cuddle session that would destroy his ego and remaining sanity.

If Levi had to choose between that and shopping, he chose the latter no matter how much he hated it.

"Okay, I guess." Eren didn't sound very enthusiastic.

"Eren, tears and grief change nothing. Only actions do. Move on before it brings you down so low you won't be able to get up." He knew it sounded harsh and that he was expecting far too much from someone so young, but Levi was strictly against offering meaningless comfort when there was no room for it.

"It's not like I didn't expect it. After all that happened at home I already... figured..."

"Look on the bright side – you'll put a bullet in their heads." _Or rip them apart like an animal._

That finally seemed to work and Levi didn't really know whether to feel pleased with himself or consider that Eren was pretty damn fucked up.

The man shrugged on a blazer after securing a gun to his side, fabric hiding it from plain view and wrapped a scarf around his neck. He simply cocked an eyebrow at Eren's question about whether he went absolutely everywhere armed to his teeth.

Better safe than sorry.

Something suspiciously like Petra's voice was in the back of his head once he got into the car (someone had driven both of his cars there, apparently his house keys weren't the only ones that were copied), if she saw him running around with a concussion he'd never hear the end of it. But it was still better than just counting bathroom tiles out of boredom.

Eren seemed to cheer up a bit, being distracted from recent events by Levi pushing him through clothing stores.

"You don't have to spend this much money on me, really!"

Levi stared at the boy in disbelief. "You think they don't pay me for keeping an eye on you?"

And it wasn't like there was no need for it all, Eren had barely any clothes and Levi could do with some indulging in a few good books.

He even caved in and bought Eren a nintendo DS, which was probably a smart move since he wouldn't need to try and entertain the boy.

Levi stocked up on painkillers so he could ignore the increasing pain in his side. Eventually he would have to go in for that check-up.

By the time they got home it was already midday and Levi busied himself with cooking dinner while Eren was occupied with the game console, sitting on the kitchen windowsill and snacking on a chocolate bar, the atmosphere had lightened up considerably.

"Hey, Levi..."

The man glanced back at Eren, whose intense staring he could easily feel.

"Hmm?"

"Did... I do that?" He asked, pointing at Levi's neck, eyes diverting as he felt slightly uneasy, faint tinge of pink filling his cheeks.

He was bound to ask sooner or later. Levi dumped pieces of finely cut pork on the frying pan, sizzling sound filling the room. He considered lying, but there was no other explanation to it anyway. By now Eren surely had figured out how much of a loner Levi was. There was no one else who could've left those bruises in that time-frame.

"Yes. Don't dwell on it, you were really out of it. And it's probably better than you trying to kill me." None of the tension he felt slipped into his voice.

"Did I do anything else?" Eren sounded more curious than uncomfortable, to his surprise.

"Why? Do you remember something?" Levi looked up from the green beans he was chopping. If Eren indeed had remembered something, it was important.

"Er... not really." Not very convincing, but Levi let it slide due the circumstances.

"You kissed me, if it could be called that, I punched you in the guts and knocked you out before you went berserk again and killed me." That wasn't quite the whole story, but Eren didn't need to know that.

"I wouldn't kill you." Why did he have to sound so serious.

"As I said, don't let it bother you, treat it as if you had gotten piss drunk or something and can't remember a thing." Levi shrugged, returning his attention to cooking. Eren didn't say anything and the man was glad that he had chosen to drop the subject; their relationship was plenty awkward as it was without adding a surreal make-out session to it. Levi finished neatly chopping the beans and added them to the meat that had been frying on the pan for a while.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when stepping back and running into Eren, sudden warmth against his back. He was simply standing there, looking down on Levi with an unreadable expression. How had the kid sneaked up on him?

"Go peel the carrots if you're that bored."

"There are no carrots in the recipe."

Levi narrowed his eyes before shooing Eren out of the kitchen, telling him to put the clothes they had bought away in the dresser or something, find something better to do than getting on his nerves.

The boy was somewhat gloomy and taciturn during dinner but Levi chose not to pay much mind to it, simply letting him be. He would make sure Eren didn't have much free time for dilly-dallying tomorrow. He did have to learn how to kill people after all.


	7. 6 and 5 and 3 and future 1

I really must apologize for the late update. If you want my shitty excuses head over to tumblr (throneofwaste) I also generally reply to messages there quicker._  
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_Blond hair, matted with blood. His chest felt crushed. Ice blue eyes, glossed over. He couldn't feel his heart beating. The eyes blinked. Was he looking down on him or up? Cold, hard rocks dug into his back and the blue of those eyes swirled together with the blue of the sky. There was smoke and he couldn't smell it, but it filled his lungs, hot ash burning the insides of his throat._

_He tried coughing. High cheekbones were speckled with blood, droplets floating above his field of vision, as if defying gravity._

_Something warm trickled down the sides of his face._

_"Are you crying?" _

_"It's raining."_

_"But there are no clouds in the sky."_

_The blond head bowed and it bothered him how the dark red spots stood out, blocking the sunlight from bouncing off the bright locks. He managed to lift a hand and numb fingers tried to comb the blood out, but it was dry and clung to the strands stubbornly._

_The smoke swirled inside of him and he wanted to ask why wasn't it bothering Erwin, how could he even breathe, why was he on the ground, shouldn't Erwin be getting out– an explosion went off to their left and his ears started ringing. _

_He was split open in two, clean line through his chest, the flames from his lungs escaping through the parted ribcage and he swore seeing Erwin's clothes catch on fire and there were marks of soot on his teeth. _

_It had been him all along._

_All he saw was red, speckled with metallic black as his eyes rolled back into his head._

_"Levi." _

_Erwin's hands were so cold._

_The black spots hurt his eyes._

_"Levi."_

_The voice was demanding and he followed the unsaid order, eyes snapping open to see his fingers being pried out of the blond hair he had been gripping._

_"A time will come when you'll die, but before that I will die for the sins I have stained your hands with and this is not that day."_

_He followed orders. He was a good little soldier, his helmet, his crown for clowns, firmly in place._

_He did as he was told. He came back to–_

Levi woke up with a start. The old bullet wound in his chest hurt for the first time in years and he felt phantom shrapnel in his legs. His hand rubbed the long since healed skin, feeling the ridges of distorted scar-tissue. It had been six years since the incident, three since the dream of a distorted memory plagued his sleep.

_"A time will come when you'll die, but before that I will die for the sins I will stain your hands with and this is not that day."_

It was precisely 6.12am and Levi limped to the shower, chest still burning.

That morning he got mail, same courier as always. Four days. That's how long it took for the dreaded bubble envelope to arrive, hiding a plain, pale yellow folder inside. It was quite old-fashioned, really, considering the amount of technology they used in the rest of their work. But the folders had become iconic, carried a meaning and message of their own. Pictures, immaculate detail, dates, routines. The usual. A folder with a dozen pages and photographs - that was the simple first key to killing someone.

For four days Levi had managed to post-pone thinking over how to teach Eren the ropes of professional assassination, choosing to work him near exhaustion instead once they both had been checked out at the hospital.

It had turned out that Eren was in awful shape, weighing measly 60 kilos and Levi was determined to put some muscle on that scrawny frame. The kid definitely wasn't used to being shaken awake at 7am to go for a lengthy run only to be followed by squats, push-ups and crunches until he dropped to the floor in a sweaty pile while Levi only sighed at him. Levi let it slide though, the kid was doing his best trying to keep up. Surprisingly, Eren didn't vocalize his complaints, if he had any. And if Levi could trust his ability to read him by now, he'd go as far as to say Eren liked it.

That or Levi's attitude had hit a nerve. On the third morning when Levi had come to wake Eren up, the kid had just huddled deeper into the blanket cocoon. The autumn chill had arrived along with morning frost that would later be melted by the sun, but the heating wasn't on yet.

"You can stay in bed for all I care, it's your choice. But you're wasting time you don't have."

After that Levi had left to get dressed and returned to see Eren sitting in the living room, pulling up his running shoes, hair still a mess, but a grim, determined look set in his eyes.

Those four days had passed in relative peace, both of them finally growing accustomed to having only each other for company, slowly becoming less awkward by doing everyday tasks. Although Levi would never let Eren cook without his supervision again, the two crisp-black kitchen cabinet undersides were testimonies to that.

They also had managed to make progress in figuring out how Eren's episodes of inhuman strength and borderline insanity were triggered. Erwin had sent the footage over and after watching it and cutting off the part where Eren had attempted to play tonsil hockey with him, the man had decided that it was for the best if Eren saw it, disregarding the possibility of further trauma for the kid.

Eren had taken it surprisingly well, albeit going a bit green in the face at first and needing Levi's half-assed reassurance that he just had to deal with it and learning about it was a step towards controlling it.

After scrutinizing the footage, they both had noticed one peculiarity - when Eren was attacked, in the middle of their struggle, he had bitten his hand. After that his demeanor obviously changed. The kid claimed to have no recollection of that particular event and they filed it away as a possibility of a trigger.

That was one thing off Levi's shoulders - there was actual hope of making progress in understanding what the hell was going on. It would all become much clearer once Hanji returned, that he was sure of. Considering that her job was often related to Levi's and she was one of the few whose orders came directly from Erwin, Levi had a few ideas about just what she was doing in France.

Eren found Levi leisurely flipping through the pages of the file at 10.15am, an hour after it had arrived. He was beckoned to take a seat on the couch.

"Wipe that look off your face, you haven't done anything wrong." Levi said after glancing up at the boy for a second.

"But I'm still not completely over the kitchen incident." He muttered under his breath, but gave Eren no time for even more stuttered apologies as he slid the first page towards him.

"Do you know what this is?"

Eren took the page in his hands. There was a picture of a stocky man, front and profile, taken during jail admission, he figured. Thinning hair, thick lips, dark eyes.

_Wilbur A. Fountain, January 21, 1964, 87 kg, 175 c., _

_Drove a 2004 BMW 730._

_No extensive family, sister died in 2009._

Eren skimmed over the rest of the details, surprised at the amount. Two addresses, occupation, telephone number, MasterCard details, preferred lunch place, daily routine, blood type. And that was the tip of the iceberg, judging from the rest of the pages that were still in Levi's hands.

It made Eren slightly uncomfortable, just how much information there was. The man's whole life was on a silver platter before them. Someone could be making files like these on Mikasa and Armin.

"Your next hit?" He replied, setting the page down and watching Levi assort them into a neat pile before placing everything, more, candid this time, pictures included, back into the folder.

"Our next hit. You are to come along. Now, this man has nothing to do with what happened to you and your mother, as far as I'm aware, but you have to see how things are done."

Eren nodded slowly, feeling both anxiety and excitement. It probably showed on his face since Levi winced, leaning back against the couch and crossing his legs.

"Abandon every movie cliché you've ever seen. It's nothing like it." Levi reminded him, but there was no harshness in his voice. The myths and fantasies were about to be swept from Eren's mind and Levi honestly thought he didn't deserve it; it meant getting involved.

"You won't have to do any actual killing, but just being there can be dangerous, I might not be able to protect you if the situation turns unpredictable, and it never really is predictable in the first place. So, just in case, you need to know how to protect yourself and how to quickly take someone down."

Levi's fingers tapped against his knee, silence engulfing them as he thought over just what should he teach Eren. He hadn't planned this out as well as he could have. The main problem to consider was that the boy could turn on him and decide to run, even if the possibility seemed low right now. Yet for every move he would teach him, Levi needed to think of a way how to counter it efficiently, a round-about.

"_Don't teach him everything you know, for his own sake."_

Erwin's words still rang fresh in his ears. Only now, after he had seen just what Eren was capable of and reminding himself about it by watching the footage multiple times, disassociated from the event by the glare of his computer screen, he was fully aware of that Eren Jaeger was potentially very dangerous and what Erwin had left out when warning him. Levi had to be careful for his own sake too.

Levi had the obvious upper hand of knowing multiple martial arts styles and having so much experience he could probably take down at least a half of a SWAT squad on his own, but if Eren retained any knowledge he was about to receive while having an episode... that could turn the situation sour very quickly.

"Firstly, don't rely on weapons. The time you spend reaching for them is a dangerous opening, especially in this case, where you're so inexperienced. Also, don't even think about biting your hand or whatever and testing out our theory, it's not safe and should be done in a controlled environment at first."

"Can it really turn out that dangerous when you even know that man's eating regimen?" Confusion was evident in Eren's voice and it didn't surprise Levi. To others he probably sounded really paranoid.

"Who knows. Don't underestimate someone who is about to die, they can pull desperate moves and throw anyone off their game."

"Anyhow, I guess I have procrastinated educating you on this for long enough. We have four days to get ready for this hit and you have things to learn. Now go make me a cup of coffee while I get some stuff."

One thing Eren had gotten good at was making coffee, which Levi considered to be his prime achievement. He didn't quite crave coffee at this particular moment, but Eren probably needed the tiny break to let the fact that everything was quickly to become even more real than it already was to sink in a bit.

And Levi needed to dust off the tools he didn't always use but could be handy for Eren. When the brunet came back there was a neat roll of piano wire on the coffee table, along with two different knives, 15 and 20 centimeters in length, two pairs of gloves and multiple blueprints.

Eren put down two cups and resumed his seat.

"We'll go scouting the location a day before the hit takes place. You also need to learn how to read blueprints and memorize them. And I mean complete memorization, where the light switches are, the doors, an odd step, count of steps in every stairway. Most of this is done in the dark and I'm not going to deal with you tripping somewhere because you weren't prepared enough. Train your visual memory, use mnemonics, whatever works for you. Within four days you'll know the plan like the back of your hand." Levi took a sip of the coffee before unrolling the first floor plan of a blueprint unrelated to their current hit and began explaining the difference in symbols between sliding doors and twin-doors.

When he touched the subject of measurements and floor elevations on the millimeter paper scale, Eren's attention was already wavering and his eyes were drifting towards the tv remote every now and then. Levi's eyes narrowed. Adventure Time was probably on by now and he barked at Eren to snap his attention back.

"Don't you fucking get it that your life can depend on whether or not you know the layout?"

"But it's just too much! You'll be there, I'll probably be two steps behind you, why the hell should I know how many rooms are there in the basement if I'll never go there!?"

Levi stifled a sigh, one of too many for this early in the day, and resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. Instead his frown just deepened. "You really don't get it, do you? This might seem like too much for such an easy hit, but it's just the first of many to come. Learn this quickly and it'll save you trouble in the future. Sometimes there is less information than what is given in the file, sometimes stuff happens. Sometimes people know someone's coming for them and knowing every nook and cranny where they could hide is how you evade getting your skull bashed in by a vase. You can't always catch them off-guard and sometimes need to hide and wait for an opportunity, therefore you need to know exactly where to hide. Jesus fuck, Eren, isn't this common sense? This isn't some little game, it isn't as easy as jumping in through the window and smothering someone with their pillow." The man paused, gaze piercing.

"Or do you need better examples? I can show you where I've gotten shot and stabbed, where I've had my ribs fractured and legs broken because a long time ago I thought that knowing how to kill someone ended with just that - the right spots where to strike. Truth is, that's only a tiny fraction of the job. I've been doing this for five years. Not many make that long, I've seen them come and go. People like us don't get fancy funerals, believe me."

"I get it." Eren mumbled, looking somewhat ashamed of taking this lightly. What Levi said did make sense, and after receiving such a lengthy reply and hearing genuine frustration line Levi's words, he felt obtuse for not realizing the importance of what the man was telling him. He still couldn't wrap his mind around all this and he was running out of time.

So Eren memorized the symbols and within an hour he could read the blue-print of their hit's flat perfectly, although he was thankful for the fact it was one-level and quite simple.

"You said five years. What were you doing before that?" Eren asked hesitantly, seeing that Levi's mood had improved by now. He had been itching to know more about the man all this time, but until now Levi hadn't let a single detail about himself slip out for Eren to latch onto, not a single opening to ask personal questions. He didn't even know where to start. Levi was a complete enigma to him.

There was a silence and Levi stopped flipping through the pages of the file, making notes every now and then. Eren was about to apologize, but to his surprise, Levi answered.

"Military service. I met Erwin there, he offered me the job." It was laconic and offered barely anything, making Eren's tongue burn with _'how, why, what were the circumstances'_.

"How old are you?"

"28 and that's the last question I answer. It's already more than you need to know about me." Levi felt uncomfortable revealing even this much, but he had to admit that some personal leverage was needed for the other to feel more comfortable. Erwin really hadn't prepared him for this part of the job. Next thing he knew the kid would be asking about his past life to relate on a personal level and they'd be exchanging sob-stories. The man cringed inwardly. Personal talk made him sick to his stomach. It was worse than small talk.

Eren's eyes were wide with surprise and Levi couldn't tell if it was because he had actually answered or if all of the kid's assumptions had turned out to be wrong.

"Wow, you really don't look your age."

The look Levi gave him made Eren snap his mouth shut.

"Moving onto more important matters," he marked their previous detour in conversation closed forever - "you'll have to wear gloves at all times. Check if these fit you." He threw a pair of slightly worn-out black leather gloves onto Eren's lap and the boy put them on, wriggling his fingers.

"I think they do." He said, moving his hands experimentally. The gloves were made out of thin leather and cut off a few centimeters below his wrist and allowed unrestricted movement. His hands were slightly wider than Levi's, so they were a pretty tight fit, but the other man had rather long fingers, so they weren't too short on Eren.

"Wear them around the house every now and then when doing simple tasks, needs some getting used to at first." Eren nodded before plucking the gloves off and letting them rest on the table.

"As far as weapons go, everything is used in assumption you get to be behind the victim. If it's the other way around, you're in deep trouble and need much more skill to even the situation. Same goes for if you're facing them."

"Piano wire." The thin wire was unwound from the roll in one swift movement and stretched between Levi's hands, glinting in the sunlight menacingly. "Is perfect for strangling someone. Pressure to apply is purely intuitive. Get it around their neck, twist at the end and pull, you get the drift. Just grasp enough extra in your hand so it doesn't slip out."

The wire was set down, rolling back into the original position with a faintly audible metallic snap.

"Now, knives are a different story. Of course you can stab someone over and over again until they cannot move, but that's just messy and ugly. And they usually have the time to scream really loudly and bite your fingers. Aim for the liver or kidneys, no screams and the body is paralyzed almost instantly from the shock. Throat slitting is also quick, but very messy. I'm sure you remember the video and what happens when the major artery is slit."

Eren pulled a face and nodded.

"Can't I just learn how to shoot a gun and carry it?"

Ah, the question Levi had expected, here it came.

"No. It's a residential area, silencers don't do the barely audible pew-pew thing, and it's still a loud as fuck bang. That and there's a difference between shooting a gun and doing it with precise aim, that takes years. I will, however, teach you how to shoot, but you won't be carrying a gun for a while. Not until I'm sure you won't accidentally shoot yourself in the leg." He paused, looking at Eren as if daring him to complain.

"Now stand up."

Hesitantly, and with a puzzled look on his face, he did what he was told to and Levi got behind him.

"To immobilize someone from the behind, you can aim for the cervical curve. That's the slight dip right under your nape, above the prominent vertebra."

Levi pressed his fingers against it, knowing precisely where the spot was. He figured that body and touch memory would be the best way to teach Eren this, even if it meant getting uncomfortably close to the boy.

"Apply roughly 1.3 kilo pressure, usually with the side of your palm or fist." He turned his hand sideways and let it rest on the nape of Eren's neck for a while before moving on.

"Crushing the airway is effective." one hand slid from the back of Eren's neck to the front of his throat, fingers wrapping around it where his Adam's apple lay and Levi felt the boy swallow nervously.

"Either press against their back for leverage or hold the back of the head and push it forwards while applying pressure from both ends." His other hand pressed firmly against the base of Eren's skull.

"Don't think about snapping the neck like they do in the movies, it's nearly impossible."

"Pressure point can be hard to find and don't count on it to leave the person alive if you're not good with applying the right amount of strength." The pads of his fingers were pressed against the back of Eren's ears and he felt the boy fidget. "Stand still. And memorize."

"Trace down in a roughly 15 degree angle and you'll find the carotid artery. Press on the spot that is below the Adam's apple and you'll block the blood flow, if done correctly it will make the victim lose consciousness, temporarily or permanently, depends on the pressure." Levi demonstrated how to find it swiftly, tapping his fingers against one side to mark the spot.

"Your heart rate is elevated." He noted. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, it's fine, continue." Eren's voice seemed somewhat strained and Levi's eyes narrowed, but he didn't question any further, attributing it to that how vulnerable Eren must be feeling right now and whenever they got physically close it ended up with the younger man being either beat up or knocked out. So probably not the best associations.

"Next is solar plexus." Levi was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable himself, having to wrap one arm around Eren's torso to demonstrate. "Feel where the ribs are no longer connected, center of the chest bone, right below it is the solar plexus. Punch it, press against it. Good for shocking and immobilizing for a short while, but don't rely on it. It's a good spot to aim for from the front, if you manage to get an opening."

"Now kidneys are great for stabbing. Instant shock and can be easily done from the front. You have to be precise though." Levi placed his hands on Eren's hipbones, feeling the arch under his palms all too clearly through the thin material of his shirt.

"Start at the hipbones, go up in a 30 degree angle and go to the back before you feel the floating ribs. The right kidney is slightly lower than the left, choose whichever." His hands stopped at his back, rubbing light circles at the exact place where his kidneys laid underneath skin and muscle.

Levi stepped away from Eren with a sense of relief, although the worst was yet to come.

"That's it for now. Now show the spots on my body."

Eren turned around with a slack-jawed look of disbelief on his face and Levi noted the faint reddening of his cheeks. Ah, so that's why.

"Seriously, Eren?" He resisted the urge to roll his eyes and turned around instead, having the decency not to glance down and check whether all the touching had issued in a problem that would explain Eren's strained voice and elevated heartbeat.

Once Eren started, Levi could quickly understand the situation he had put the boy in. It was too close, he felt too open and vulnerable, the hands were roaming and Eren's breath brushed past him every now and then as he spoke.

Thank god he had memorized almost everything and got it over with quickly. They could cover the rest later and now Levi had the excuse of cooking dinner alone while making Eren read through the file multiple times, including Levi's notes. And they could ignore the awkwardness.

The burnt cabinet undersides and ruined frying pan still irked him. It also irked him that somehow the warmth from Eren's chest lingered on his back along with phantom traces of fingers. He didn't know which one irked him more and that alone was troubling.

Levi slammed the knife down into the wooden chopping board with satisfying strength. Why was it so awkward? He was 28, the kid was 15, sure, teenage hormones, that he could understand. But the tension was nearly tangible and he couldn't blame all of it on Eren, even if the boy was constantly somehow in his personal bubble, too close, too domestic and Levi could recall the exact pitch of Eren's bubbling laughter whenever something funny happened in that stupid DS game of his.

The man decided that he just hadn't killed anyone in too long and it was all bottled up energy. Maybe he'd give some extra punches or stabs before finishing Mr. Fountain, just to let some steam off. (And maybe, _just maybe_, he needed to get laid.)

Levi wasn't a violent person. He didn't have violent tendencies, didn't even consider bashing Eren's skull in when he nearly destroyed the kitchen or attempted to dye the laundry pink by mixing whites and reds. But he couldn't really be his own judge, considering he had first killed a man when he was 17 and stopped counting during his military service. Violence had seeped into his work and killing had become a second nature, one that he assumed to be human.

Nothing about the homo sapiens was docile, the need for violence was suppressed by artificially constructed psychological and social systems. Sometimes Levi thought he was in a healthy line of work, not suppressing the needs of his primal ego. But he had never thought he'd miss it. Miss trampling over a human life that's just as worthy as his own, playing his little game of God approved by the government – neat little stamp and all.

Eren had no idea what he was getting himself into. If you lived for long enough, killing became addictive.

The pot was about to boil over when he snapped out of his thoughts and pushed them to the back of his mind. Thinking about it wasn't healthy, it wasn't going to fix anything. There wasn't anything to fix.

The day had started off badly with the dream, it still left a bad taste in his mouth and chest aching as if it missed the bullet being lodged in there. Levi had never been that close to death again.

And he had never felt anything as thrilling.

The next two days passed in a blur and Levi's hands were steadier than ever when polishing his tools and planning routes. It was a three and a half hour drive, which was lengthy enough to consider using a plane, but Levi wasn't fond of flying. He trusted himself at his steering wheel more than hanging mid-air, even if Erwin knew some of the best pilots.

Eren was picking up quickly, and growing more serious as the day of the hit neared. They went to scout the location with 32 hours in advance and everything seemed to be going as planned – Wilbur went on about his day, seemingly oblivious to the danger posed to him.

They stayed in hotel room that smelled faintly of mold for the night and it was painfully obvious that Eren hadn't gotten a wink of sleep during the night while Levi had slept like a baby for exactly 7 hours and for the first time in four days the ghost of his past self from the battlefield didn't visit in his dreams.

In a way, he thought he had died that day and the dream nagged at him like a half-remembered past life, scratching somewhere at the back of his mind, pulling out memories that no longer belonged to him. And that was as poetic as Levi would ever get and as much thought he'd ever pay it.

They both had unsatisfying coffee and slightly stale bagels for lunch before heading into town to rent a decent looking Volkswagen that would blend well in this part of the city. It smelled of the cheap, overly sweet pine air-freshener and Levi wrinkled his nose while Eren seemed to like it.

Another 40 minute drive. Levi checked his watch and tapped against the steering wheel impatiently as they were stuck in traffic. It didn't matter, he had expected there to be one and planned in advance, but sitting still when movement was so close and tangible didn't bode well with Levi.

He had made Eren recite the whole plan multiple times yesterday so doing that again would probably tick the boy off so it was out of the question. Eren looked nervous enough as it was, fidgeting slightly in his seat, although that could be attributed to him not yet being used to the feeling of a knife strapped to his back.

"Hey. Calm down. Look at it like this – it can't be much worse from when I was about to assassinate you, right?"

Eren glanced at the older man, their eyes meeting in the front mirror. Had Levi just attempted to make a joke or were they returning to awkward silence-fillers again?

"Yeah, it's really comforting knowing I'll possibly retain all of my original teeth this time." Eren deadpanned, but his facial expression had relaxed somewhat.

Levi snorted and they pulled out of the traffic, making a left turn seconds before yellow turned to green.

They spent loitering in the parking lot of the apartment complex for two hours and Levi watched Eren play Animal Crossing on his DS lazily until the silver BMW 730 pulled in.

Another hour of waiting for Mr. Fountain to settle down and it was lights out time for him.

Another 15 minutes for good measure and they shut the door of their rental.

Up to the third floor, they took the stairs, and at 11.46pm the door of Wilbur A. Fountain's two bedroom apartment clicked open, letting two figures slide inside.

At 11.47pm the light switch was flipped up.

It took Levi 4 seconds to adjust to the bright light and realize that a gun was pointed to his head.

Three faces. None of them were Fountain or anyone associated with him.

15 seconds later 3 shots were fired.


	8. Test subject number 2

Thanks goes to actual-eren on tumblr for being a very helpful beta. So you won't have to suffer through my typos and confusing inconsistencies from now on, rejoice!

* * *

The first bullet landed in the ceiling after Levi wrung the arm of his opponent behind him. The second hit the man's chest, straight into the heart and Levi's breath hitched, because for a split second he thought the bullet would go through the body he was shielding himself with.

Levi was the one to make the third shot, the glock fitting against his palm with familiar ease while the owner of it slunk at his feet lifelessly. The bullet lodged itself firmly into the skull of the second attacker.

Possible trajectories ran through his mind as Levi purposefully angled himself against the wall, trying to get as far away from Eren as possible while keeping the remaining man's attention on himself.

He switched the light off and caught sight of Eren pressing against the door, eyes wide in shock as movements blurred together.

They were all blinded by the dark. For the first 7 seconds there was deafening silence, none of them moving an inch, hum of faraway cars echoing in the room.

There was still one man left. Levi had last spotted him about 5 meters away, to his left. His ears were strained, ready to pick up the tiniest noise, and eyes desperately trying to adjust to the darkness.

Nothing.

His only choice was to use the dark to his advantage.

Six strides, knife pulled out. Levi could smell him moving, a whiff of cologne caught in the still air.

He circled the man right before the fourth shot rang in his ears, illuminating the room for a split second and he saw faint movement 3 meters away.

His gut twisted and the knife halted, centimeters away from hitting the attacker's kidneys. Was it Eren or Fountain?

The moment of hesitation cost him dearly and Levi heard the body in front of him move, mixed with careful footsteps somewhere ahead.

First thing he felt was wet warmth on his face before the sound of a surprised grunt was cut short and reached his ears.

His fingers twitched, something akin to fear coursing through him as the stench of blood hit him.

A body hit the floor with a thud and Levi felt relief for it was too heavy to be Eren.

He heard the sickening crunch of steel against ribs followed by tearing flesh and Levi switched the light on just in time to see the boy getting up from the man he had been straddling, bloody knife in hand.

"Sorry. You told me not to stab mindlessly, I know, I just..." He sounded a bit breathless and Levi shushed him by pressing a finger to his lips and motioned to the door to their right that led to the bedroom. This wasn't the time to feel relief yet.

They could worry about the extra bodies and blood later, getting the actual job done was the priority and these three weren't the last that would die tonight.

Even if a big part of him wanted to stop and shake the boy and yell at him for acting so recklessly. He could've died. He could've gotten shot in the head and Levi doubted even Eren could live through that.

But his feet moved on their own accord, treading silently against the linoleum.

The light was on in the bedroom and at first it seemed empty, but something about the scene was off. There were signs of a struggle, nightstand pushed askew, a book on the floor, pages crumpled.

The very edge of a pool of blood was what made Levi circle the room, aware of that Eren was hot on his heels and for a second he thought it would be better to tell the boy to stand back.

And he was right.

Levi could barely recognize Fountain and the sight of his head hanging on by flimsy threads of skin and muscle made vivid memories flash back into his mind.

Wilbur A. Fountain had his throat ripped open in a vicious, animalistic way and perhaps it was because he had seen this happen before his eyes before, but Levi could swear he saw teeth marks.

For a moment both of them were stunned silent before Levi's mind kicked back into gear, information flooding his brain.

The blood was fresh. With a bad feeling about it, he touched the body. It was warm. This had been done with the cover of surprise and gunshots.

"Out. Now." He muttered to the boy behind him while getting out his phone to take quick pictures of the body and the room from three different angles and the then the three bodies in the living room.

Levi didn't even think about how someone could've called the police, how much of a mess they had made and cleaned none of it up, all that mattered was getting out of the door and to their rental.

He checked the back seat and the trunk before they drove away from the parking lot, away from the scene and the utter failure that had been their hit all the while checking if they weren't being followed.

Eren was silent through the ride, although Levi probably wouldn't notice even if he'd speak. His mind was thrumming, trying to make sense of what had just happened, more and more tiny pieces of information fitting together like puzzle pieces. He still couldn't make out the picture.

The three people weren't professionals, that much was clear. They hadn't said a single word, the grimness of their faces was burned into Levi's memory and he could only now pinpoint where had he seen the looks they had in their eyes before and why was it there.

Those three men had knowingly walked into their death. They were a cover, slabs of meat laid out for him and Eren, although their full role probably hadn't been played. Eren hadn't lost his senses.

Chances were that the last shot fired wasn't one of desperation, it was a warning.

Whoever had staged this knew about the Eotena Project. Had Fountain's death been set up to look like Eren had done it? Had someone _like Eren_ done it?

Where from had they gotten the information? Was there another leak?

Levi slammed the steering wheel with his gloved fist as frustration bubbled in his veins, drawing his eyebrows together in a look that made Eren fidget in his seat.

Where was Erwin when he really needed that brilliant strategist's mind.

Even thinking about Erwin made him feel uneasy right now though. Levi had no idea how to explain this. Had he taken enough pictures? Was his phone safe?

Ever since Eren had appeared in his life there were too many questions and barely any answers. Soon Levi would really need someone to blame and he couldn't put any more of it on himself.

They arrived at the motel and he was thankful for how cheap and run–down the place was – the cameras couldn't cover every angle and there wasn't anyone to notice them and question the blood on their clothes.

Levi told Eren to take a shower while he had some important messages to send.

In short, clipped sentences he wrote to Erwin that Fountain had been taken care of, but not by them and that there had been three extras and the place was in dire need of a clean–up team and a forensic opinion.

He then proceeded to look over the pictures slowly, trying to see if anything else was out of place or if it seemed familiar.

The flesh and splatters of arterial blood, still bright and magenta tinted glared at him from the screen of his phone as Levi bit down on his lower lip in concentration.

It hit him like a freight train and Levi couldn't get why hadn't he noticed it at the scene. Fountain laid in a pool of his own blood, his throat had been ripped apart violently, there were signs of struggle, but something very important was missing. It was messy yet clean at the same time.

Killing someone like that, there was no way the attacker wouldn't step in any of the blood or change the splatter trajectory. There wasn't even a bloody handprint anywhere, not on the body, not on the floor. No footprints. Just a neat, round pool, the reflection of light shimmering even in the photograph, reminding Levi how fresh it had been.

The window was shut from the inside.

One door.

The timeframe of approximately 1 minute and 45 seconds.

The killer had still been in the room when they entered, watching their every step.

Levi was starting to doubt his choice. He had made Eren's safety the priority, passing up an opportunity to catch whoever had done this, who was making all these question marks riddle his life. He wanted nothing more than to get his hands on whoever was messing around and get every bit of information from them in the most inhuman way.

Or was that what they wanted? Everything Levi had noticed was obvious, like hints were being laid out before him, a trail of breadcrumbs to follow obediently. And he was doing just that.

They were being played with and Levi had a feeling this was just the very tip of the iceberg.

The skin on his lip was a second away from breaking when a voice reached his ears.

"Earth to Levi!"

A hand waved in front of his face and he looked up to see Eren, dressed in a pair of clean shorts and an old shirt that Levi faintly recognized to be one of his.

"Is everything okay?"

Water was dripping down brown locks, onto the ratty, uneven carpeting. There was worry in the turquoise eyes.

"Hey, the shower's free."

Eren pointed to the door that was still ajar, turning his head.

There were specks of blood on his neck and ear and the red had lodged underneath Eren's fingers.

Levi snapped out of it and within seconds he had already grabbed Eren's hand and pulled him towards the bathroom.

"Can't you even wash behind your ears, what are you, five? For fuck's sake."

There was something in Levi's voice that made every protest die in Eren's throat as he was pushed to sit down on the closed lid of the toilet.

Levi's hands were rough but precise, scrubbing at the spots Eren had missed until the skin was red and the boy was wincing.

The blood on his own hands was transferring onto Eren's skin and he doubled the efforts, considering just pushing him back into the shower.

"It hurts!"

His fingers were starting to tremble and all he could see was the perfect pool of blood back at the scene. The blood on Eren's neck. The blood under their fingernails.

The blood on Eren's face after he had slit the throat of someone, knowingly and under Levi's supervision.

He was so tired.

Eren grabbed his wrist, pushing his hand away and Levi couldn't make himself look up to meet his eyes.

He was so, so tired. And there wasn't an opportunity of resting anywhere in sight.

They had to keep moving. Levi needed to stop fucking everything up.

Shower, clean the faux–leather seats of their rental, take turns and de–tours on the way home to throw off any followers, explain everything to Erwin, collect and pour over the files, look for hints, check for leaks, check his phone and computer for bugs–

Levi didn't realize he was muttering his thoughts under his breath, words mushing together.

"Levi..."

He was so tired.

"How am I supposed to keep you safe!?"

His head snapped up to look at Eren properly, even if desperation laced his words and showed in his eyes and Eren wasn't supposed to see that. Eren was supposed to be safe, Erwin trusted him to keep him safe, he couldn't let the responsibility get to him.

The past couldn't repeat itself.

He wouldn't let people die because of his mistakes again.

No one would be blown to bits, shot in the chest and beheaded under his command. There would be no explosives strapped to their chests.

He wouldn't go to funerals that had no bodies in the caskets, not even dog tags left to hold on.

He desperately needed to believe in his own words.

Arms wrapped around him and all Levi could do was slump down on Eren's lap and his eyes slid shut, head resting against the boy's shoulder.

He tuned everything out, even the hands running down his back in a soothing way, the thoughts and memories flashing before his eyes, the question of when had he begun to care so much.

He needed to get a grip. Inhale, count to six, exhale, count to six, repeat.

This was not the time or place to think about what could've done differently six years ago or half an hour ago. Regret was destructive. Chain of command was always intact.

The smell of the motel's cheap soap lingered on Eren's skin and suddenly assaulted Levi's senses along with the sound of heartbeat that drummed against the other's chest.

He didn't want to get up, even if the hesitant hands were now on his waist, even if he was sitting on the lap of a child, even if Eren's legs would grow numb.

He had to get up. The clock was ticking.

Levi opened his eyes felt his eyelashes flutter against warm skin. He did the inevitable and lifted his head, eyes level with Eren's.

That's when he realized it, why he cared. Eren was inching closer and he could feel uneven puffs of breath against his lips. He saw it in half lidded eyes along with fear of closing them fully.

It was because Eren cared about him and he had just _let_ the boy cling to him as a last resort.

Levi got up before he'd let another mistake happen, ignoring how pitiful it was – that single movement was the most control he had had in days.

Something was stuck in his throat and Levi couldn't bring himself to say it.

_'Don't misinterpret the chaos in your head, I'm not the person you need right now.'_

It was easy thinking about what Eren felt, his face was so open, his rage and his heart like a book begging to be read and the pages overflowed with so much youth, his every response to the tiniest thing was filled with such intensity that it was enough for Levi too. He could tear out pages, stick them in his pocket and no one would notice.

So it was easier to occupy his mind with Eren while detached, mechanical words left his mouth, saying that Eren should go check his belongings so he wouldn't leave anything at the motel while Levi took a shower.

It was easier than thinking about why he let Eren get away with so much, about just when had he crawled under Levi's skin and tracked mud over every crevice in his mind.

Eren looked embarrassed and Levi sighed a breath of relief.

There was no way Eren could actually like him, he was just misplacing feelings and latching onto what he had after losing everything and Levi just happened to be the only person around. He'd grow out of it and soon, Levi would make sure of that.

The rest went without incident and they did everything according to the plan, even down to the cleaning product they'd use when making sure not a speck of blood from their clothes and gloves was left on the interior of the Volkswagen, not a single fingerprint.

And then onto their way out of the city. Eren slept through the whole ride home and Levi envied how calm he looked.

It felt like the fact that Eren had killed someone not even 12 hours ago bothered Levi more than it did Eren. Not a muscle moved in his face as he slept, light snores filtering through the sound of the radio that went through periods of static as Levi drove, leaving kilometers upon kilometers between them and what had happened in the motel along with any awkwardness he felt.

It was exactly 5.32am when they pulled in the familiar underground parking lot and Levi shook Eren awake. They were finally home.

He emailed Erwin the pictures, making sure to encrypt the message and only when his head hit the pillow at 6.02am did he realize how physically exhausting the night had been.

With sleep he left memories to rest and forgot every dream he saw immediately upon wakening.

By 10am he was awake, by 10.18am he was on his second cup of coffee and staring at the message from Erwin, reading the same sentence over and over again.

_"By the time they got there everything was gone."_

Levi's knuckles turned white from gripping the cup, the scorching heat against his palm was a small comfort for the anger he was feeling.

Chances of lifting fingerprints, DNA, anything that those people carelessly could have left behind – it was all gone. Back to square one, with only the knowledge that they were being toyed with, no actual proof. All gone. Might've been a fucked up dream if it weren't for the pictures he had taken.

But if they cleaned everything up this fast, within the timeframe of approximately two hours, were they stupid enough to leave any evidence around in the first place?

Levi gave a frustrated sigh and leaned back against the couch, trying to push back the onset of a headache. It was too early for this.

So he did the only thing he could – trust Erwin blindly and hope. And clean the already spotless apartment, in case any dust had settled while they were away.

Time passed quickly while cleaning, it left his mind pleasantly blank and hands busy.

It was 12pm when the doorbell rang and Levi had gone through the kitchen, leaving it sparkling.

He was greeted by Hanji's face (dark circles, hands shaking from caffeine withdrawal, the picturesque story of being stuck in a lab for too long) and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. She usually let him know if she got back early, always trying to socialize even if Levi turned her down more often than not.

"Hey, I need to talk to Eren."

"He's asleep." Levi said, stepping aside to let her in. "When did you get back?"

He lead her to the kitchen, even if any more coffee probably wouldn't do the woman any good.

"Two days ago, been stuck in the lab ever since. Do you mind if I go wake him up?"

Levi raised an eyebrow. Someone was in a hurry. "Spit it out, whatever concerns him concerns me too now. And he should be up soon anyway."

And that was the cue she had been waiting for, patience already wearing thin. She spoke so fast Levi had to concentrate and abandon the coffee making for a moment just so her words wouldn't blur together.

"You see, in France I was looking into people that had any, even if barely there, connections to Grisha Jaeger's work and life, his friends, acquaintances, you name it. And, of course, try to find the man himself, but no luck there. Eventually it lead me to Germany, but, long story short, I managed to get a hold of a copy of his work, six years old. And I thought it looked like a prototype of sorts." Hanji paused, looking at Levi impatiently, as if expecting the man to hop onto her trail of thought and judging from how bloody excited she looked and how she wanted to speak with Eren...

"You actually got a hold of the serum he was injected with?"

Hanji wasn't disappointed and nodded, a grin stretched on her lips.

"It's more like we actually made it, there was so much to do to make sense of the notes, had two teams working on it! But Eren's blood work helped us make the connections and with a little faith we eventually managed to re–create it by cultivating one of the components."

Levi set a cup of coffee in front of her while holding his own and swirling the black liquid so it would cool faster.

"You had to cultivate a component? As in..." He had never been very good with science, that's what he had Hanji for, but some of her crazy rambles about it did stick.

"Turns out it's a virus of sorts, I can't tell if it's new or what, the origins are still very, very unclear, but..." She trailed off hesitantly.

You couldn't cultivate a virus without a living host. Eren wasn't their primary lab rat here. That blood work had been a while ago and didn't count. Weren't all the subjects supposed to be dead?

"Who are they?"

Hanji winced. "Classified. Erwin would have my head on a plate if I told you."

"Do you know about the fiasco that was my last hit?" His voice was dangerously calm and Hanji wanted to kick herself for letting her mouth and excitement work quicker than her thoughts could keep up. That's why they had told her to just talk to Eren.

"I've been informed."

"Am I the only person here who knows fucking nothing compared to everyone else?"

She opened her mouth, but Levi beat her to it, anger surfacing now.

"Then you can probably put two and two together here and realize there's probably a leak somewhere and how long will it take you people to fucking realize _that I am not it–" _Levi inhaled sharply, ready to unleash his frustration on Hanji, but stopped.

He was being treated like a possible threat, yet they were fully aware that this job and his trust in it was all he had.

The feeling that Eren was hiding something had never really gone away after seeing how reluctant he was to talk about anything concerning his past. He never spoke of it.

The memory of how Eren had killed one of the attackers was still fresh in his mind. Slit his throat with a knife, stabbed him repeatedly. Then apologized. Didn't bat an eyelash.

And there were just a few thin walls separating Eren from them.

So that's why.

"Go on, about the serum thing." He said, nodding slowly and after seeing relief relax Hanji's features he knew he was right.

He had to admit, even if it was frustrating, it was a brilliant strategy – if Levi didn't know any more than did Eren, he couldn't give anything away by accident. He had been a soldier, now he was an assassin, but the skill of a spy was something he did not possess.

"The injections stopped once Grisha Jaeger disappeared. We'd like to start them again."

"That much I get by now, question is – will he be in control of the other persona he becomes? I'm assuming you've seen the footage from when he went on a rampage."

"No, they'll merge. His strength will increase."

Levi stared at his coffee, still untouched.

"Back then, you never told me, what's the final stage of the Eotena Project?"

Hanji took a sip, choosing her words carefully this time.

"He becomes it."


	9. Clouded judgement

A clattering noise made Levi stir from his slumber. He kept his eyes closed, sure that it was just his mind playing tricks, persistent remains of a dream he was already forgetting. Then it was there again, the sound of something falling, a door being slammed shut or open, he couldn't tell, and Levi's body went rigid with tension, ears straining to figure out what was going on.

Shuffling, unsteady footsteps. Someone was here, someone uninvited.

Maybe the habit of sleeping with a gun under his pillow would finally pay off.

The first thing he noticed after getting up was that the door to his bedroom was wide open and a shiver ran down Levi's spine. The idea of someone coming in there while he slept, while he had let his exhaustion get to him, made Levi more than uncomfortable.

His bare feet padded through the living room. The night was crystal clear and moonlight streamed in through the large windows, painting everything dark blue.

He immediately felt the chill that had cooled the room and the sound of rustling fabric, billowing in the night's breeze, told him why. The door to the balcony was open.

Every window was open.

His eyes darted further to the left. Papers scattered on the floor. The door to Eren's room was open and not a soul occupied it.

But other than the oddities, the living room was empty. So that left kitchen, unless the intruder had jumped off the balcony, hopefully not with Eren under their arm.

He peered inside the kitchen, eyes trailing along a shadow on the floor. There was a clear outline of someone moving, shoulders hunched. Were they sitting on the floor?

Levi entered the room and a sight of alleviation left him. He could recognize that bedhead anytime.

"What the fuck Eren, you scared the shit out of me." He groaned, arm relaxing, fingers no longer twitching, ready to press the trigger.

The outline of Eren's back was backlit by the fridge light. The boy was sitting cross legged on the floor.

"I have nothing against you getting a midnight snack, just don't be so noisy next time, okay? Also, why the fuck are the windows open?" He asked, tucking the gun away at the waistband of his sweatpants before switching the light on.

Eren didn't answer. He showed no sign of even noticing Levi.

"Hey."

Was he a sleepwalker? Sleep-eater?

Levi stepped closer, finally getting a better look at the sitting boy. His hands were moving, shoulders swaying and head bobbing. Was that really...

His hand hovered centimeters away from Eren's shoulder and the boy turned around to face him and Levi's face scrunched up in disgust. It really was.

Eren's teeth were digging into a piece of raw steak, biting, tugging and chewing messily. His eyes were wide open and alert. He swallowed greedily.

"It was too hot to sleep. So I opened the windows." He said, mouth full.

Levi snapped out of his momentary shock and snagged the piece of meat away from the boy. Or at least tried to, Eren's fingernails dug deeper into the meat, pulling back and lip curving up in a snarl.

"Eren! That shit's unsanitary, I'm throwing this out right now!" His grip on it was surprisingly firm, since when did Eren pack so much strength in those wiry muscles?

The boy let go suddenly, almost making Levi stumble back. He turned his back to the other to throw the offending piece of uncooked food in the garbage bin and heard the fridge door being shut.

"It's not the right kind anyway." Eren drawled out and Levi's eyes narrowed as he tilted his head to look at him while water from the faucet ran down his hands, washing the glum feeling of raw meat touching his skin away.

Eren was leaning against the counter, lips smacking as he sucked his fingers clean. His eyes were trained on Levi, trailing his smallest movement.

"Should I what, get you some raw chicken next time?" The cold bite in his voice was wavering somewhat. It felt too familiar - the stance, the look in his eyes.

"No."

Levi finished washing his hands and motioned to the sink for Eren while standing back, arms crossed over his bare chest. The kitchen window was also open and it was getting really, really cold in here. He saw the brunet roll his eyes before washing his hands and it was enough compliance for Levi, who moved to close the window.

He offered making the boy a sandwich, but Eren was already on his way out of the kitchen and Levi soon heard the door being shut. He closed the rest of the windows and the balcony door and returned to his room.

Only then the question of why the door of his bedroom had been open when Eren's destination was the kitchen rose to chew at the back of his mind. It was unsettling, but sleep soon blanketed him yet again.

He replayed the memory in his mind four hours later, wide awake this time and sitting on the couch, laptop in front of him.

Only now, after mulling it over, Levi was sure that had been the first incident – an incident that Hanji mentioned could happen. And when Eren wobbled out of his room towards the bathroom, muttering a quiet 'good morning' and rubbing sleep out of his eyes, it wasn't the same Eren who had gone for a very bloody steak.

And Levi felt like punching something. Why had the kid agreed to it!?

Hanji had visited three days ago and Levi had been against the idea of Eren being injected with the serum, he was fairly unstable as it was, why add fuel to the growing fire? Hanji, of course, had argued that it was Eren's choice, while both of them knew it wasn't. It was most likely Erwin's and the serum would be shoved down Eren's throat whether he wanted it or not.

But Eren had rolled over, not a moment of hesitation, not a single question. He'd simply nodded and it didn't look like he even needed Hanji's reassurance of regular check-ups and that they would minimize any possible harm as much as they could.

So Levi had no choice but to stick a needle in the boy's upper arm every morning and not even a wince passed over Eren's features as he did.

He had grown increasingly taciturn ever since they had returned and Levi didn't have the strength to push their conversation past 'what would you like for dinner?' because even that was answered with 'I don't really know.'

So he simply watched the boy through his peripheral vision as he made his way back to the bedroom.

32 minutes later Levi was yet again forced to do something he didn't want to. He was kneeling, syringe in hand, while Eren sat on the couch. Every day at approximately 9am he would have to give the boy an injection with the serum Hanji had provided.

He glanced back at the box that had packaged syringes and bottles, similar to ones penicillin was stored in. He picked one that said _'3__rd__ of September 2013' _in the chicken scrawl that science freak called her handwriting. Hanji had said they varied in concentration so Eren's body would take better to it.

It was already September and Eren was supposed to attend school instead of being here right now, with Levi's hand holding his upper arm. The procedure was simple, really, just like any other injection – roll up the sleeve, apply tourniquet, disinfect the skin, find a vein and in it goes.

Levi wished Eren could do it himself but the kid would probably forget to wash his hands or something just as stupid.

"Why did you agree?"

He asked, eyes trained on a swelling vein before the tip of the needle prickled Eren's skin and he emptied the contents into his system.

"It's not like I have anything to lose at this point." There was a bitterness in his voice that dipped lower as he added, "And I didn't have a choice, not really."

And there was nothing Levi could say to console him except to tell him the truth while rubbing his fingers against the skin he had just pierced, even if it had already knit together, leaving no trace or bruise.

"You got up during the night, opened all of the doors and windows. Do you remember that?"

Eren didn't look surprised, lips pursing in forced silence instead.

Levi got up to throw out the now empty bottle and syringe, rolling off the latex gloves a second later. Into the trash bin went the evidence that Eren had lost his human rights in the eyes of the upper echelon. And there wasn't a thing they could do.

"It's more like I'm watching myself do it and I can't move. Like an urge I can't fight."

There were questions written on Eren's features, worry creasing his brow and uncertainty tainting the corners of his lips.

"I won't let you do anything reckless or hurt anyone, that's why I'm here." Levi tried his best reassuring the other, even if it was a mere stab in the dark and Eren's expression didn't relax.

He returned to his laptop and Eren didn't move from the couch, instead the boy just scooted over and tucked his knees under his chin. Levi let him be and the sound of tapping against keyboard filled the silence between them.

Levi opened up a new email template and hesitation filled his fingers that hovered over the keys.

Mike Zacharius. Hacker and black market enthusiast, also specializes in surveillance systems.

He knew he could trust Mike, he had been working with the guy for 3 years now, hell, he was one of the few that bordered between a colleague and a friend.

But Levi had no idea where Mike stood in this ordeal, did he know about it, was he involved? He had a hunch that the man would at least know about it, probably by snooping around Hanji's laptop.

Levi had to try.

"_I need Hanji's current research work. And anything else you can get related to it – names, documents, the works._

_If you're involved in it and leaking anything could pose a threat – you never got this message._

–_Levi"_

Encrypt and send.

He was walking on thin ice here. Levi wasn't supposed to know anything, but if Erwin thought he could keep him in the dark for so long, he was very wrong. Levi wouldn't do anything with the information, Eren would never find out anything he thought the boy shouldn't know, no harm would come out of this.

And if Mike was involved, he would probably keep his mouth shut and wouldn't let their superiors know. They had a history of favors that both parties preferred to keep secret and Levi had never been one above blackmailing. And he was one of the few people Levi was sure wasn't being tracked – spying on a paranoid surveillance expert was a tough job.

At least now he didn't feel as idle, like a sitting duck with a target painted on his forehead. Well, he still was one, but hopefully he'd soon know why.

He closed the lid of his laptop and glanced at Eren to see that the boy was watching him intently, and Levi wanted to tell him to spit it out already, because it was obvious that a question was lingering on the tip of his tongue, but Eren was quicker.

"Can we go somewhere?"

"Where?"

"I don't care. Just out."

Levi thought it over. They had been cooped up for a few days again and while Levi liked his routine, same pavement touching his feet when they went running, same store for the groceries, everything had a time-box, concise and precise. Eren would never get used to it.

So Levi agreed.

"Sure."

Pleasant surprise was painted on Eren's face, which was a change from the glum brooding, and Levi didn't regret giving in to the boy's wishes

It took them 6 minutes to grab what was needed (Levi took the nearest book to avoid conversation), pull on their shoes and get to the car and by then Levi had a faint idea where they could go.

47 minutes was how long the drive took, the hum of a news station filling the silence between them and a look of calmness had settled over Eren's features. Levi found that it was contagious.

The wind greeted them as soon as the door of the car was shut, ruffling their hair and stinging their eyes as they walked. The air smelt of salt and wet earth and soon the scenery of rough rocks, stained with the vibrant green of algae, came into view.

He came here once a year, exactly on the 23rd of February, so it was foreign for the air to be this warm, not freezing his face off. There were memories tied to this place, some of the few he wasn't willing to let go of. Ones of whispered promises and saltwater stained paper.

It was weird to have Eren tag along, it was as if he didn't fit in – the wind painting his cheeks rosy and arms wrapped around himself. The complete opposite of the person he usually was with here.

"You didn't wear clothes warm enough." Levi vocalized his realization without meaning to as his eyes raked over the thin sweater that hugged the boy's lean frame loosely, and Eren turned his head, lips tugging upwards slightly.

"You didn't tell me where we're going."

Levi scoffed, "You said you didn't care."

The boy leaned closer and the wind carried the scent of his shampoo and Levi's brows furrowed. It was the same one he used, even when Eren had bought a different one.

"So you're going to offer me your jacket?" Eren's voice took a playful tone and Levi had the sudden urge to flick him on the forehead.

Instead he returned to his book, slipping the bookmark in his pocket.

"No."

He was fond of his leather jacket and a fifteen year old should be responsible enough to check the weather forecast

Levi was already turning the page and didn't see the disappointment on Eren's face.

All he got was about 4 minutes of silent reading before Eren interrupted him again.

"What are you reading?"

Levi looked up at him, the already permanent frown deepening.

"The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. You wouldn't get past the first paragraph."

"I could try."

Levi snorted, "We could make a bet – if you do get past the first chapter then you don't bother me with useless attempts at conversation for a month."

"Okay."

He can't help but linger on his own words. A month. Would they be still living together after a month? For how long would this arrangement even work?

Eren could be killed, kidnapped, assigned a different 'guardian', if you could call Levi that, at any time. And then he would be alone again, he'd cook for one, wouldn't have to yell at the boy for messing up daily tasks.

There would no longer be the urge to attack his ridiculous bedhead with a hair brush. He'd no longer worry about what's going to happen to Eren, himself, this whole mess.

He wouldn't hear the sound of that soft laughter at his bad jokes. There would be no gloomy expressions to see, ones that he irrationally wanted to sweep away from the boy's face.

With a twist in his gut, Levi realized that he had grown somewhat fond of the irritating kid and found himself reading the same sentence again and again, words on the page mushing together and no longer making sense.

At some point, even if it was barely even two weeks of them living together, the thought that he would have to watch over Eren for a very long time had settled itself into his mind, making home there.

Levi closed the book and watched waves crash against the shore instead, crowns of foam shattering mere seconds after they had formed. Just as temporary as the boy that was fidgeting on his right.

"My butt is getting numb." Eren said quietly and Levi felt an odd twinge at the worry in his eyes, which was definitely not about his butt.

"We can go for a walk."

Levi got up and dusted off his backside for any sand that had clung to his jeans. They made their way closer to the shore and walked along the rocks. Levi found himself watching the boy jump from one to the next, avoiding stepping on sand.

There were goose bumps on his forearms and with a sigh Levi took off his jacket and threw it at Eren, who almost lost his balance after the man had yelled '_Hey!' _at him as a warning.

The brunet grinned sheepishly and put on the jacket, looking awfully content.

They weren't the only ones walking along the shore – there was an older man walking his dog, a couple walking hand in hand. The sound of laughter was carried their way by the wind and Levi wondered how others saw them. Friends, brothers, lovers? The truth would never cross their mind, unless the observer had a serious mental disease.

Eren yelped as he stepped on a slippery rock and Levi's reflexes were quick enough to pull him by his arm back to safe ground. His expression carried off the unspoken insult and Eren muttered an apology that Levi didn't quite catch because the way wind had tousled Eren's hair was distracting and there was a glint in his eyes that he hadn't seen before.

He looked happy.

Levi released the boy's arm and kept walking,

"Do you come here a lot?"

"Sometimes. It's a good place where to let your mind drift off." He answered without looking back and Eren took that as a sign not question him any further.

The temperature was dropping and the walk back to the car would be long. They'd been there for about two hours and Levi himself was starting to get a bit cold.

"Want to go back?"

Eren, albeit looking a bit hesitant, nodded. Levi felt tiny, almost mist-like droplets on his face. Just the right timing.

For a short while there was a faint drizzle of rain that quickly turned into a downpour, the wind turned droplets into bullets of water that plastered their hair to their faces. Levi tried his best not to let the book get wet, but it was in vain and he'd have to deal with wavy pages later. Or he could buy a new copy.

By the time they made it back to the car both of them were soaking wet and Levi had to try to stop his teeth from chattering.

Eren seemed to be fine though. He didn't take off the jacket and Levi didn't ask for it. The car roared to life and he turned on the heating that didn't do much for the cold, wet clothes clinging to his skin.

As they drove, the rain only got worse, painting the road glimmering white, the puddles bubbling, and the windscreen wipers didn't do shit so Levi was forced to slow down from his usual borderline recklessly fast driving.

Levi felt the buzz of his phone against the pocket of his jeans and once he pulled in the parking lot and turned the engine off, he checked it, already having a good idea who was it.

"_What do I get in return?_

–_Mike"_

He should've expected this. Mike was a practical man after all, to that he could relate, yet Levi had no idea what _could_ he offer. Mike had plenty of money, plenty of sources and contacts to get pretty much anything. So he must want something that only Levi could provide.

Mike was also a very curious man, not nosey, but curious.

Levi drummed his fingers against his knee, deep in thought, when the sound of Eren shrugging off the wet jacket caught his attention.

Even in the rather poor light he could see the red that had tinted his cheeks. Restless fingers danced across the zipper of his jacket.

"Caught a cold or something?"

There was no point in checking his temperature with his hand, it was higher than normal people had anyway.

Eren inhaled, eyes finally settling on Levi.

"Can I kiss you?"

Levi's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he was stunned silent for a good few seconds.

The right, instinctive answer would be a strict no, it was already hanging on the tip of this tongue along with an insult or two, yet there was a phantom scent of seawater and rain in the car, and Eren looked so ashamed, and it twisted Levi's tongue, messed with his mind.

"Why?"

As soon as the word left his mouth he admitted that this would do well – maybe he'd get some bullshit explanation from Eren, like how he found Levi to be attractive enough to kiss, and to snotty teenagers that was a reason plausible enough.

"Because." Eren looked hesitant, like he had already been rejected and now he was just about to humiliate himself, which was very much the case, "Because I already have. Except I don't remember it and you do and that's not fair."

He had a point.

"That's exactly why we shouldn't do that, use it to your advantage and forget it ever happened."

Levi clung to the slim hope that Eren could see reason in his words and just drop the subject. Slim hope indeed, because, while quite oblivious at times, Levi wasn't blind. The glances, as if he couldn't feel him staring, how Eren sat way too close sometimes, brushing fingers, open bedroom doors, that ridiculous mistake of taking the offered comfort in a motel bathroom…

"But it was my first kiss. And I don't remember it. It's not fair."

As expected, stubborn personified.

"Bullshit." Levi was close to laughing, some twisted amusement sneaking into his voice. Eren was fifteen, for fuck's sake, kids at fifteen already fucked into oblivion and back before crashing down with an STD, kissed so many people in parties they'd have to count on fingers and toes, and those were the ones they remembered.

"It's not bullshit." Eren's brows furrowed in frustration, "You seem to be forgetting that I was my father's little experiment, you think he ever let me out of his sight for more than five minutes!?"

Yet again, he had a point and it was starting to annoy Levi more than it should have.

Eren kept venting and Levi didn't have a second to respond by pulling the age gap card after which he would state that he wasn't into men, much less _boys_.

"Besides, what's it to you? You're 28 years old, an adult, kisses don't mean anything to you, and people come and go from your life."

Levi hardened his expression, not letting anything seep into it, because, without knowing, Eren had hit a spot close to home.

People indeed came and went, men and women, picked up in bars, in foreign countries where they spoke broken English and Levi preferred that – they wouldn't have to talk. He didn't care whom he fucked, it was a distraction, and he saw it as something to keep the natural sexual instincts in check. Sex was healthy. No strings attached.

But Levi rarely kissed them. Germs and shit aside, it was too intimate. He didn't like kissing. Because the other person would close their eyes and all Levi saw was weakness.

They didn't know he killed people for living.

Eren knew.

Eren still wanted it.

Levi's looked away from the boy, away from the distracting eyes that bore into his shamelessly.

As his mind often did, the rational part took over and he couldn't give a single fuck indulging a stupid hormone-ridden teenager if he could get something useful out of it.

"Fine, only if you tell me what is it that you're hiding. Because you are hiding something, don't play dumb."

And he liked to think that this decision had nothing to do with the memory of how Eren's hands had wandered over his body, the terrifying yet alluring power he had over Levi back then.

"Really? I can?"

Levi leaned over to the passenger seat, eyebrow cocked and voice mocking, "Well then, waiting for a written invitation?"

He had to admit, the embarrassed, flustered look did suit Eren quite well.

And the kid didn't need a further invitation.

His lips were chapped from the wind, yet the chasteness provided an illusion of softness. His eyelashes were long. Levi could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks.

And then Eren pulled back.

That was it.

Levi found himself letting out a broken, bitter laugh as he slumped back into his seat.

Somehow it had slipped his mind how different, while possessing the same body, the two sides of Eren were. And here he had let a naïve little boy kiss him, thinking there would be pressure and tongue and teeth, yet it was a mere peck.

Levi didn't like feeling guilty. Levi didn't _do_ guilt.

"What!?" Was that anger or disappointment in his voice? Levi tilted his head to look at him and, ah, yes, it was both.

"Well, sorry, it was quite the contrast from the first time." It came out colder than needed.

Eren didn't say anything and Levi was thankful, reaching to the backseat where he had dropped the book after getting in.

"Let's go, I'm hungry."

Out of this goddamned car, all he wanted was a hot shower and dry clothes and to ignore Eren for the rest of the day.

The book dropped out of his hands, falling onto the floor of the car, and Levi didn't have time to think about crumpled pages because Eren's hands cupped his face and he was being drawn into a second kiss.

And fingers tangled into his hair, pushing Levi back and then he was climbing over and next thing he knew Eren was straddling his lap.

It was cramped, there was no space for Levi to breathe because Eren's tongue was swiping at his bottom lip, unsure but eager.

He didn't know why, he didn't question it, but Levi parted his lips and suddenly arrogance had bloomed in the shy (he had to rethink that one) thing on his lap, because Eren's fingers tightened in his hair and he explored his mouth, leaving Levi stunned for a second before pushing back. No way was he letting Eren nearly violate him again.

Levi really shouldn't have, but his hands trailed up from the boy's hips to his waist, the initial thought being to push him away, but somehow he only succeeded in pulling Eren closer.

He really should be getting out of the car.

But this time Eren didn't taste of blood.

This time Eren was sucking on his bottom lip and nibbling softly and Levi knew it's the same Eren who has bubbling laughter, the one with the soft, tentative hands, whose fingernails are raking against his neck, not too harsh, not too gentle, and Levi's eyes slip shut.

Levi's hands somehow end up trailing under Eren's shirt as he pushes the boy back against the steering wheel.

The sighs breathed against his mouth make Levi lose count of the ridges on Eren's spine.

Lips smooth and damp this time, Eren starts kissing down his jaw and the spell is broken because Levi's eyes snap open and they're still in the car and Eren is on his lap and this isn't right.

Levi pushed him away and ignored the disappointment written on Eren's face.

"So, tell me."

Eren's hands were still running through his hair and Levi made an effort to swat them away so they settled on his shoulders instead.

"I killed two people when I was nine."

Levi raised an eyebrow questioningly, as if to ask if there was anything else.

"I lied, that wasn't my first kiss."

He didn't know which one of those truths bothered him more.

Eren looked awfully pleased with himself and bent down to kiss him again while fingers trailed down and inched dangerously close to Levi's groin.

"My judgment might be clouded, considering the situation, but it's not _that_ clouded." Levi's voice was a dangerous whisper as he took a firm hold of Eren's wrist and motioned for him to get back to the passenger seat.

Thankfully, it sinks into that tiny brain of his and Eren moves, albeit not without a huff of annoyance. Before getting out of the car, Eren grabbed the book that was forgotten on the floor of the car. He smoothed out the pages.

"I'll read it."

Then the door is shut and Levi let out a shaky breath.

He had fucked up again.

The phone had fallen on the seat and he was partly sitting on it and Levi picked it up.

He replied to Mike while making his way up to the flat, where Eren would be waiting at the door.

_"I'll let you meet Eren Jaeger._

_ –Levi"_

* * *

Heyheyhey manga spoilers in the next chapter. Go read it, the anime is over and sometime, somewhere you'll get spoiled anyway so might as well save yourself the disappointment. And if I'm not mistaken you should start reading around chapter 30 if you don't want to read what has been covered in the anime.


	10. 9th of September, 2013, 05:30am

Hanji suppressed a long yawn, cup of coffee in one hand and the other on the steering wheel. Levi's voice saying _'one of these days you'll go down in history with the accident you'll make'_ rang in her head and she was thankful that the streets were quite empty at 5 in the morning, because Levi had the annoying tendency to be right and she could barely keep her eyes open.

The new schedule of having to get to work at 5.30 am every day still hadn't settled with her sporadic regime which usually involved crashing in her unmade bed at 10am. At least the work was worth it.

Today was an experiment day. Her own experiment day since the upper echelon had finally decided that she knew what she was doing and let her have some freedom over their test subject. Even if this involved heaps of paperwork and ridiculous guidelines of what she could and couldn't do. How did they expect her to know exactly what she would do, didn't they understand that experimenting was an artistic process? Hanji could have explained this in detail during the meeting, but Erwin's subtle kick against her shin had stopped her.

Maybe it was for the best. In the end she would have the subject all to herself.

_Test subject number 2_, Hanji hummed under her breath while pulling in the parking lot. They didn't have names. It didn't sit quite right with her, neither did the way they were handled. They were human, others had made them into what they were now, yet they were ignorantly stripped of their humanity.

Hanji slammed the door of her car shut, spilling some of the coffee on her coat in the process.

A trip down the stairs, flash the id card to the guard, down the stairs again, swipe the access card and with a loud beep the door opened as the led indicator changed from red to yellow. Two levels underground was where possibly one of the biggest secrets of genetics and government fuck-ups were huddled away.

First she had to go through the locker room to get changed. Sterile field was a bitch to maintain, but in this case it was quite necessary for the accuracy of their results.

They weren't allowed to carry any personal items inside the C block rooms either, so she gulped down the lukewarm remains of her coffee while checking her phone before switching it off.

After 15 minutes Hanji was dressed in what seemed to be the standard uniform here – white pants and shirt. The lab coat wasn't her own and felt unfamiliar, everything reeked of antiseptics and she wrinkled her nose.

At least they didn't have to wear hazmat suits, that would've been a bit much.

Another door, retinal scan and access card this time and then it was just around the corner, second door on the right. It swung shut behind her and Hanji's eyes settled on what lied behind the glass screen that divided the observation room from the test subject himself.

Pristine white walls, white clothes blending in with skin that had paled from the lack of sunlight.

Test subject 2 was a 17 year old teenager. Tall, thin frame, black hair. He was shy, with a pleasant voice that was painfully twisted with nervousness choking his throat. He spoke rarely, only when asked to.

When first seeing him she had felt a pang of guilt at her own excitement. A young man, a mere boy, really, yet he was regarded as something dangerous and observed like an animal.

Dangerous he was, although the extent of his powers had yet to be seen, that much Hanji knew, but it was hard to believe that he would cause harm to anyone on purpose.

She nodded at her new co-workers in a silent greeting, one of which was already packing up to end the night shift, before fixing her eyes on the boy behind the glass screen again.

He was hooked up to various IVs that poured liquid nourishment and 9% NaCl saline into his system. A blindfold covered his eyes because the bright, fluorescent light was always on, bouncing off the white walls. She could tell he was awake, yet he had no other choice but to stay in a sleeping position. His arms and legs were strapped down, padded leather straps covering his wrists and ankles to the bed.

The sight had ceased to make her feel uneasy after the first two days on the job. This wasn't the worst of it, anyway. There were others – the failures. Those who hadn't taken to the virus. They usually ended up suffering from autoimmune diseases. The lucky ones died quickly, since euthanasia wasn't an option here. They had to be observed to the last second, in case the progression of their conditions gave a hint to where exactly had they made a mistake.

Hanji peered at her watch. 5.23am. It was too early to start so she took a seat, the glare of a computer screen blinding her for a second before a list of the night's records came into view.

There wasn't anything new and she skimmed through it without much interest. The subject's sleep regime was the same, he fell asleep at exactly 10.30pm and woke up at 5am, his heart rate was regulated, every ounce of bodily fluid carefully measured and it was all the same. In this limited environment it didn't surprise her that not much could actually be observed. Some times Hanji thought the experiments were just a reason to keep him imprisoned.

Soon her attention was drawn towards the assistant who had entered the room on the other side of the glass screen. She hadn't seen him before –stocky build, short, blond hair. He probably didn't have a single clue about just who this boy was and what ran through his veins.

She watched the assistant check the vitals before he took out a syringe containing what was a mix of ketamine and propofol. The teen was always sedated, you could barely get two words out of him.

Her finger hovered over the intercom button. She could always just say she'd inject the test subject herself, but knowing how ridiculously meticulous this place was, word would travel fast that proper procedure wasn't followed.

And she didn't want to fuck this job up, it was too important in the long run.

Before Hanji could do anything, the tip of the needle pierced through the plastic IV tube and there was no way back. All she could do was sit back, watch and wait.

He looked kind of young, now that she paid closer attention to the blond's features. Too young to be working in a facility like this. Hanji's eyes narrowed, watching the assistant closely, but he did everything by the protocol, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. Probably just a newbie.

5.29am

Just for a second, barely enough to catch her attention, the assistant's hand lingered on the teen's shoulder, squeezing lightly. Hanji leaned forwards in her seat, eyes trailing the man's form to observe anything else out of place, but that was it.

Maybe she was imagining things.

Hanji dismissed the twitch of the subject's lips as a trick of the light.

It was already half past 5 and she scrambled to log in her shift on the computer.

_Hanji Zoe (temporary license, survey corp branch), 9th of September, 2013, 05:30am_

She dimmed the lights and fished out the right access card to open the door and stepped inside.

"Why is it so fucking cold in here." She muttered, finally buttoning her lab coat up properly.

The assistant didn't say anything and Hanji herself knew exactly why.

Test subject 2 was certainly abnormal – his blood pressure and body temperature was too high. So high his cells should be shutting down, yet they seemed to be working just fine, along with his always rapidly beating heart. Just how was it possible for his body to go on with all this strain was a mystery to all of them.

"I'll take care of the rest." She said, authority creeping in her voice, and the assistant stepped back. Her fingers worked over the leather straps, twitching slightly when brushing against the hot skin.

She pulled off the blindfold slowly and mossy green eyes blinked open slowly to look at her.

"Morning!" She greeted, grinning widely, but a hum somewhere in the back of the young man's throat and a tiny nod was all she got in response. He made move to sit up but she pushed him back on the bed, eyes trained on the monitor.

"Take it easy, the medicine hasn't taken effect yet."

Still 190/90.

"I feel fine." His voice was hoarse from disuse and Hanji didn't have to look back at him to see the look of dismal on his face. Her hand was still pressed against his chest and she could feel the muscle hammering against his ribs, as if desperate to escape, before she pulled it back.

Almost slapping herself for her forgetfulness Hanji unlocked one of the drawers underneath the bed and a second later a pair of heavy handcuffs were shut tight around his wrists and his fingers stopped fumbling with the bottom of his shirt.

It was the first thing she should have done, it was just procedure, just pointless precautions. Why did she have to handcuff a boy who would probably faint if he got up too quickly? She shot him an apologetic look.

180/90

"Okay, you can get up, but slowly." Hands on his shoulders, Hanji helped the boy sit up. He sighed softly before stretching his back. Long legs dangled over the edge of the bed and he curled his toes, the tiny popping sound loud in the sterile room.

"How are your muscles feeling?" She questioned, eyeing his frame that seemed to be thinning out as days passed, despite the generous nourishment he received daily. His metabolism was accelerating by hours, it seemed. His heart was getting worse too and in the end almost all physical activity had to be stopped, which was now slowly leading to muscle atrophy.

"My legs hurt when I sleep."

Her nod halted midway when she caught sight of the monitor again. 195/95.

"What dose did you give him?" Her head snapped back to look at the assistant, who was startled at her harsh tone and fumbling with the chart in his hands, pen falling to the floor and rolling away.

"I... uh, the usual, I don't mix it myself!" He was flipping through pages, trying to find the right numbers.

She was about to question if he had done it right, but bit her tongue, because this wasn't the assistant's fault, probably.

220/110

It wasn't too dangerous, not to him, but it was definitely rising.

"I'm okay, really, don't worry!" The metallic rattle of the handcuffs caught her attention before his voice did.

His feet touched the ground and a second later he was standing upright.

230/120

Before Hanji could push him back on the bed or even open her mouth there were hands on her wrists, pulling her away. The blond man was pulling her towards the door and she was a second away from kicking him in the groin, but the metallic snap of the handcuffs startled her.

"Please stay back."

There was sincerity in his voice and that was the last thing that happened before her eyes at a normal pace.

A roll of hot steam hit her and the hands on her wrists were gone. The next second the supposedly weak test subject was padding across the room, hands now free from wristcuffs. She didn't even notice that the assistant had fished the access cards from her pockets, Hanji's eyes were glued to what was happening front of her, the sight breaking all remains of her logical beliefs.

He was steaming, skin raw, as if it had been boiled off of him. The room was filling up and it was stifling, but it didn't seem to bother the test subject, who was now standing right in front of the glass, hand reaching out to press against the surface.

The bulletproof glass cracked before her eyes as if it was nothing. The lights flickered and Hanji rushed to shield her head before shards of glass and debris of the walls hit her.

It reached Hanji's leg first, breaking some of the bones, then ribs and arms.

The sound of the alarm system and voices didn't reach her ears, she was already out cold from the pain.

* * *

He didn't have time to appreciate the fresh air after everything that had happened in a blur of steam. As soon as out of the building, he was pushed in a car, a change of clothes thrown at him.

"I didn't hurt her, did I? Or anyone else, no one was in at this time, right?"

He asked, genuine worry twisting his stomach. He did what needed to be done, but none of them were involved.

The car was silent as they sped through the streets like they were followed. But they couldn't be, no one was supposed to.

"Reiner?"

"Don't worry about it."

He looked down at his hands, still covered in remains of dust, knuckles bleeding. Ah, yeah, the body count wouldn't matter anyway. Not when compared to the one they'd have to pile up.

"You'll have to change in the car, we don't have much time." A bag was thrown on the back seat by the driver. He didn't recognize the man.

Upon inspecting the contents he found a wallet, two plane tickets, passport, keys, manilla envelope, gun and a change of clothes – simple dark blue jeans, black sweater and beige blazer.

The passport had his picture and name, but the birth details were different. According to this he was 21.

'Bertholdt Fubar'

"Using my real name? Wasn't I pronounced dead?" His eyebrows knit together in confusion as he looked up at Reiner again, who was glancing over the passenger seat.

"Not anymore." The laughter that rumbled in the other's chest somehow loosened the tension in the car and Bertholdt finally moved to pull off his shirt and change into the clothes. The soft cashmere of the sweater felt odd against his skin after all the time spent in the white facility clothes.

A dull ache had settled into his muscles, accompanied with a painful humming in the sides of his head. It had been a while since last doing something like this, but there would be no time adjust. Spending 8 months sitting on his ass in that facility that was sickeningly resemblant of a hospital hadn't done any wonders and Bertholdt winced upon catching his reflection in the mirror – he looked the part.

He rubbed his eyes, hoping the redness would go away soon and that maybe within a week or two his cheeks would fill out, although that was doubtful. Not with the amounts of stress they would be put through.

40 minutes later they pulled in an underground parking lot and Reiner turned around to face him properly. Worry was creasing his brow and uneasiness settled in the pit of Bertholdt's stomach.

"The details are in the envelope, but I'd say you already know pretty much everything you need to. Just get him to Germany. I'll meet you there."

The blond hesitated, but Bertholdt's hand was already reaching for the door handle and a gentle smile tugged at his lips. "I just wish I had gotten breakfast."

And with that he was out of the car, head spinning slightly at the sudden movement. They didn't have room for _'please be safe'_, not anymore. From this point on, nothing was safe.

So he tucked the envelope under his arm and headed for the lift, trying to rid himself of the nervousness that was wrecking his mind. He still thought that Reiner would be much more suited for the job, intimidating looks aside, his social skills were better.

It didn't take long to find the right door and he had taken the key out while in the lift, the weight of the gun was comforting against his back, but hesitation pulled at his limbs.

What if his brains were blown out upon opening it? What if they knew he'd come?

The teen inhaled slowly before pushing the key in and turning it.

This was what he had signed up for.

He closed the door behind himself and it shut with a soft click.

Well, he hadn't quite expected it to go like this. Eren Jaeger was staring at him with his green eyes wide in surprise. He had multiple bottles of what looked like bleach and some other cleaning supplies in his hands along with paper towels and a brush.

It took a few seconds for panic to course through both of them, but Bertholdt was quick to draw his gun and point it at Eren, whose hands flew up and the items in his hands dropped to the floor.

"Don't move, don't panic, I'm not here to hurt you."

He took a step forwards and Eren took one back. He had really expected for Eren to still be asleep so he could deal with his handler first. Then he'd have to worry about how to persuade Eren only if he'd manage to off the other guy that was supposed to be here.

"Bertholdt?" The shock lining his voice made the older teen wince. He had kind of hoped the other wouldn't remember him. They hadn't even talked that often, they only interacted because of Reiner in the first place and it had been almost a year since they had last seen each other.

Yet there was something else in his voice, something he picked up only when he paid closer attention to Eren's face. His eyes were red rimmed, he had been crying.

"Yeah, hi." This was awkward. "Where's your handler?" The two of them seemed to be the only ones in the apartment and Bertholdt doubted that a trained killer would sleep through this.

Eren looked like he was about to start hyperventilating and took another step back.

"Do you mean... Levi?"

"I don't know his name. The man who was supposed to assassinate you."

Eren opened his mouth to answer, but snapped it shut before trying again.

"Kitchen. Second door on the right." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"Lead the way." He motioned with the gun for the other to move, which he did, body rigid.

The answer to Eren's weird state of mind was sprawled on the tiled kitchen floor in a pool of red.

"I didn't mean to, I don't even remember... I..."

This probably explained why Eren wasn't attacking him or yelling at him to explain what the fuck was going on. He tucked the gun away and turned Eren around to face him. He had been taught what to do, how to talk him into this, maybe this turn of events would just make his job easier.

"Hey, listen. Calm down. I'm going to take you away from here, okay? You're not going to get into trouble for killing him."

The bright aquamarine eyes were still fixated on the body like it was the most important thing to him.

"Eren, look at me. We don't have much time."

Still no reaction. Bertholdt gently gripped the other's chin and turned his head.

"Go sit in the living room, please, I'll explain everything to you."

He was still in enough of a shock of what was happening to nod numbly and make his way back. There was no way he was going to run now. According to the file, he no longer had anywhere to run.

Bertholdt observed the body. They didn't have a picture of Levi, just a description, but the man on the floor definitely fit the height and build. Black hair, undercut. The face was bashed up quite badly. The head was no longer attached to the neck and Bertholdt looked away from the ugly wound, sickness curling in his insides.

The blood was smeared and all over the place and it wasn't a big leap of deduction to say that Eren had probably panicked when he had come to his senses. He didn't have to check the body for stiffness to see that it had been a while. Probably a whole day.

So he let it be and went back to Eren, who had now slumped on the couch again, head in his hands.

He didn't quite know what to say, the fact he had killed his handler obviously bothered Eren, so it was safe to assume that he had done it while partly transformed and that he had no control over himself. And that he had cared for him.

The younger male spoke up first, voice devoid of any emotion.

"Why are you here?"

He mulled it over, glancing at his wristwatch. He had to speed this whole thing up.

"Because I'm the same as you. And these people have no idea what they're doing and you deserve to know what's going on. They would've assassinated you eventually and I'm supposed to take you where you'll be safe."

Eren didn't show any signs of having heard anything.

"Did I really do it? Did I really kill him?"

Eren's voice was starting to break. He needed to be sedated or else he would snap any second now.

"Come. You can tell me what happened later."

It was easy to pull him up, his limbs were like warm wax, melting against Bertholdt's frame and for a second he thought this would go much more smoothly than expected, but Eren's head jerked to look back in the direction of the kitchen and he refused to move.

"I can't leave him..."

Tears were brimming in his eyes and an old memory of brash, loud Eren flashed in Bertholdt's mind that he couldn't help but feel genuinely sorry for him. Yet he couldn't find anything comforting to say, so he just swept the tears away from Eren's face. There were only a few, he had cried himself dry and raw.

"There's nothing you can do."

It was a realization that had also been stumbling around Eren's mind, because when Bertholdt voiced it, the boy seemed to go numb again, all fight leaving him.

Only when the door of the apartment was shut behind them he spoke up again.

"Where are we going?"

"Home."

* * *

ok i'm all packed and ready to run for the hills from you

BUT before you're off to find and kill me you should check the really amazing fanarts by zipra and kohichapeau on tumblr (ffnet linking pisses me off so just check throne.(co).vu/tagged/ficart )


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